Energy Series #2: Kapha: Stuck in a Rut? Revive Your Zest for Life | Ep. 128

Hello, welcome back to the Holistic Inner Balance Podcast. I am Hadlee.

And I'm Dr. Nicole.

We are back with our series of how to increase your energy, optimize your energy for each dosha, each mind-body type. So we talked about vata, we talked about pitta. Now we are going to talk about kapha and what it looks like to have low energy when you have more of a kapha imbalance versus pitta versus vata. So are you ready? Drum roll, please. I'm ready. Kapha. Oh, and stay tuned because we're going to talk a little bit more about coffee in this episode. We didn't talk about it in the pizza one, but that's okay because this one you're going to want to definitely hear about. Yeah, the coffee concept in Kapha.

Please,

I

need coffee. Please tell me I can have it.

Okay, so kapha. When kapha type is feeling low energy, when you have a kapha imbalance, so it doesn't matter what, what constitution you necessarily have, it's just what's out of balance. If you have a kapha imbalance, you are going to experience more of a state of lethargy. So your low energy is Is there's a difference between depletion and lethargy. So lethargy feels more like foggy, groggy, heavy, dense, whereas with vata it was like a kind of like a hollowness, a weakness. Kapha is more of an overfullness. and a heaviness and a density. So it's like you wake up in the morning and it's like you just feel like it's hard to move out of bed. Like it's hard to— it's— it just— everything feels heavy. Does that make sense?

It totally makes sense. Heavy, lethargic, foggy, groggy, dense. I also was thinking about drooping, like some people, their eyelid or both eyelids will droop.

Totally. Yeah. Puffiness in the eyes too is very kapha. Yeah. Yeah. And so with kapha, there's a different approach to increasing energy, a very different approach actually than With vata and pitta, because with with vata and pitta, we want to really nourish. So nourish with vata, soothe with pitta. For kapha, we want to invigorate. So those are the words for vata. I just came up with this. For vata, nourish. For pitta, soothe. For kapha. Invigorate. Now, for those of you who have a lot of kapha and are like, oh God, what is she going to tell me that I have to do? We, we always, always, always want to work with the dosha as we come into this. So like for vata, you know, we were talking about nervous system regulation. And we were talking about how just going into complete stillness and, you know, stilling your mind, just focusing on one thing, that's going to be really hard because vata tends to be like kind of have their minds all over the place. So starting with something that is going to have your mind like do a few different things, maybe have your body do a few different things to then come into that stillness is going to work with the vata in order to get you into that place of nourishment, you know, with that practice. With kapha, we want to do invigorating things. So that means like movement, breathwork that is more of the tapping into your sympathetic nervous system where you maybe you do like breath of fire. If for those of you who know like what pranayama is, or if you've done breathwork where you get into more of that, like Yeah. You like, you feel like you're— you have a ton of energy, really oxygenated. You like take in, you like over-oxygenate essentially with some of these breathwork activities. Whereas like with Vata, breathwork for Vata is going to be like slow and steady. That's going to be nourishing. We want invigorating practices. So then same with like movement, we want to do— we want to bring in Invigorating movement practices. So things that are more like bring in the cardio, bring in faster movement, bring in longer bouts of movement to endurance. Kapha has— Kapha is like the endurance queen, can just go forever. I have a lot of Kapha in my constitution. I was a long-distance swimmer all through Like my childhood and, you know, through high school and everything. And so we can harness that part of kapha. Now, if you're a kapha or if you have, you know, a kapha imbalance and you're like, you're feeling this lethargy and stuff, you're probably like, I hate Hadlee now. I don't want to do any of that stuff. I want to— I want to be the vata one that gets to just like rest. Do all the nourishing stuff. So I get it because I was like that too. Like, I was literally like, seriously, that's what I have to do? When I— because I, I had a kapha imbalance for like years of my life, like most of my childhood. I had a kapha imbalance, pitta too, but, but a big, big kapha imbalance. And I didn't want to do all that stuff. So what I would say to that is you really want to take small steps toward, toward that. So like, you know, if you're gonna do a workout class, or, or actually what I would have you do if you really don't want to move in the morning or whenever, is I would have you just All you got to do is get on your yoga mat or get to the gym. Your goal, that's your only goal. And then do whatever it is that you want to do and then go back and like, like do as much or as little as you want to do. Your goal is just to get there because with kapha, it is really hard to mobilize. It's like the hardest one to get moving. But once you are moving, Forget about it. You can go longer than anyone else. Like, I always joke that when I'm on hikes with my husband, he doesn't have as much kapha in his constitution as I do. He has more pitta, and he's like— I mean, I have a lot of pitta too, but because of the kapha, when we get started on the hike, it takes me a while to get really like going. Like, it feels hard at first, whereas for him it feels super easy at first. But by the end, I'm like— Oh my gosh, let's go. This is awesome. And he's like, how do you have so much energy still? Like, what is happening? So that's, that's the cuppa superpower. So what we want to do is just get started. And then what will follow is you probably are able to go longer. And then that it will be a lot easier once you get started. The other thing that you can do to start with movement is like maybe you just start with some gentle stretches and then you get moving a little bit more and a little bit more, and then you bring in the cardio like halfway through your workout, that kind of thing. So we can work with kapha and really invigorate so that you do have that kind of that energy afterward. A lot of times people who have a lot of kapha will be like, well, I hated starting the workout, but like by the end, I felt really, really, really good, and I felt like I had so much energy for the rest of the day. So that's the— one of the 3 things is movement and that invigoration piece. Another thing is shaking things up. So this is going to be like kapha. And now you vatas out there are going to be like, oh my gosh, I wish I had this. When you have a lot of kapha in your constitution, you are the queen of routine. You are able to just be like, I do this, then I do this, then I do this. Now that can be— that can be helpful or it can be harmful because if you get in a rut of a routine that isn't helpful for you, you know, that's going to be harder and harder to break out of. But if you get into a routine that is really, really beneficial, then that's going to be really, really helpful. You're going to be able to sustain that over time. So we, you know, in my Happy Healthy Habits program, we help you create the kind of habits that actually are helpful for you. And then you can, you can keep that going. But shaking things up, regardless of how amazing your routine is, shaking things up is kind of the name of the game for kapha if you want an instant energy boost. So instant energy boost, and then also it helps you to sustain that energy over time by doing this more often, is to like shake things up, go a different route on your way to work, take a walk a different way than what you normally do in your neighborhood or, you know, You know, in the city that you live in, whatever. Maybe you usually watch TV at night and instead you paint or you go for a walk or whatever it is. It doesn't actually matter what the thing is. Just doing something different and being spontaneous with something is gonna be really, really helpful. And you can bring in some of that fun we talked about in the Pitta episode. Bring in that fun too, because you actually want want to do it, um, to, to try those different things. So those are like the practices. Yeah.

It sounds like breaking patterns is the name of the game. You're like invigorating, because otherwise it can just be like you're a Mack truck just cruising along.

Yes.

I've heard of that.

I— one of my teachers, um, described— her name is Kate Stillman— she described the Doshas as like kapha. So kapha is like a barge. It's like it's really hard to turn a barge around, but once you get it in that position, it's it can keep going and going and going versus like vata is like a jet ski. Can turn really really easily, but isn't going to be able to go like straight for a super long time. Um, and pitta is more like. Oh, gosh. Like a speedboat.

Yeah, that's what I was envisioning.

In the middle.

Yeah, in the middle. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. I actually might have brought in some of my own flair. I just remember that she talked about kapha as the barge. Such a

good image.

Yeah. So we want to bring it— we want to pattern interrupt. Like, okay, I've been doing the same thing for a long time. That's going to immediately increase your energy levels in the moment. And then also it will start to rewire your neural pathways in your mind, which is also really helpful for mental stimulation, for that mental invigoration for kapha as well.

That's so good. So a couple of different things that they can do in the morning, maybe with kapha, because it sounds like a big thing is like how you begin. Because once you start, then oftentimes that barge will just go. And so what I'm hearing is when your alarm goes off, it's like, make yourself get up. Don't lay there. And so maybe what we could do is create a morning routine for our Kapha listeners who are exhausted. Yes. And I imagine the exhaustion is really prominent in the morning when you wake up. So exactly, you get up, you turn off your alarm, you go, and then what would you suggest next?

Okay. So I also have a video on YouTube that is my Ayurvedic morning routine. So definitely check that out. We can put it in the show notes. But what I would say— so this is something that I do with my clients all the time. I would say When your alarm goes off, we're not going to do the snoozing of the alarm anymore. You might even find that the more you do this, the more you might be able to wake up without an alarm. I know.

Hmm.

I actually rarely use an alarm and I wake up between 6:30 and 7 pretty much every day. Or you can set your alarm like a little bit later and you wake up a little bit earlier than your alarm. Which is nice. But anyway, so kapha, you wake up with your alarm. Now we want to work with the kapha. So instead of just being like, I'm going to force myself to get up and immediately go and do an invigorating exercise, I would not suggest that because you will not do it. You'll just be like, screw this, I'm just not going to do it. So what I would suggest is, and I've had my clients do this before, like, have a pillow in your bedroom or maybe out in your living room. I have like meditation cushions. Or what I do personally is I do the— I lie on my foam roller on my back and do a meditation when I first wake up. So you're getting yourself out of bed. But you're going and you're sitting or lying down somewhere else. So your mind can, can be like, okay, I can get out of bed to go do that. That feels like something I can do. So you go and you do that. I would recommend a meditation, you know, maybe do— I'd actually recommend a guided meditation for kaphas because you need a little bit of stimulation. Instead of just a silent one. You might need a little bit of stimulation, maybe do a little bit of breathwork, because that brings the— like, it oxygenates your cells. That feels invigorating. You can choose what works best for you, but I would do a little practice. Doesn't have to be long. It can be 2 minutes. That's totally great. It can be, you know, 1 minute if you want it to be. The goal is to just continue doing it. But what I would say is maybe do a guided meditation that is more of like a, like an inspirational guided meditation. So there are guided meditations that are designed to nourish, designed to ground, designed to make you like more in that, like, sleepy state, essentially. And what we want for kapha is we want it to be more of like a, like an inspiring meditation and And inspiring, like you know whether whether it's like affirmations or you can just look up on YouTube inspiring meditation. There are tons and tons, and usually they have like some like intent not intense but like inspiring music in the background that's like dun dun dun like you're getting ready for your day. It's gonna be amazing. That kind of thing. So that's the kind of thing that I would suggest for coffee to to give you a little little motivating boost there.

I love that.

And then I do a little bit of movement. So you can start with, you know, I start with like a meditation and then I go downstairs to— I have a gym in my apartment building and I just go down there and throw weights around because that's what I like to do. And that's really helpful for kapha. But yeah, you can start with a little bit of stretching. Ease your way in and do that. It can be just on your living room floor too. It doesn't have to be at the gym. That's gonna be— you're, you're gonna set yourself up so that you, the rest of the day, you have that momentum of, I took care of myself this morning, I invigorated myself this morning. So you're gonna be set up for the rest of the day to be much more likely to feel that invigoration the rest of the day.

That's so good. And I know that helps me too. When I work out, it's always better in the morning. And then also we're going with the rhythm of our cortisol production with our body, because your cortisol should spike in the morning and then go down throughout the day. And so if you kind of lean into your body's ideal natural rhythms, it can help correct the body's rhythms, but it can also help you have more of an effective experience.

Well, and if you think about our like ancestrally how we have evolved as humans, we woke up in the morning and we did manual labor to set ourselves up to be taken care of. Like immediately, you know, if we're thinking agriculturally, we went and milked the cows and like, like plowed the fields and did all the things that we had to do in the morning, especially before the sun got too hot. And then we kind of tapered off movement throughout the rest of the day. And this is in Ayurveda, there's like a dosha clock too. I mean, we don't have to get into all of that, but yeah, the best time of day for movement is in the morning.

That's so good. So before we finish up here, can you give us just a couple of nutrition hacks that a kapha person might keep in mind?

So we want to think light and also invigorating, so stimulating. So that brings me to coffee, the stimulant. Yes. So of all of the doshas, kapha is going to be able to handle coffee the most. So yay, kaphas! You maybe like me more now after I told you all of the things that you have to like move your body more.

Yes.

You might be like, okay, I can get behind that. I can do the coffee thing.

Cherry-pick, like, okay, I'm not gonna exercise, but I'll have my cup of joe.

Okay, I would not recommend that,

but

But I tried.

You got to try. Can't win if you don't play.

And also, like, I don't want to say this and then have people be like, I have a lot of kapha in my constitution, so I'm just going to drink all of the coffee. I used to think that I had a kapha body type or a kapha constitution because I had such a kapha imbalance. But whenever I would like go too hard on the kapha stuff, I would, I would get a pitta imbalance. And I also actually have more pitta in my constitution than kapha. I just didn't know that at the time. So I'm gonna say, like, I'm— this is not like the free-for-all of like, now I'm gonna drink 4 cups of coffee a day or 8 cups of coffee a day. We still like drinking 1 cup of coffee a day is more what I'm talking about. Or, um, and when I say 1 cup, I don't mean like a massive 20-ounce mug.

Like this guy. Have you seen that? It's like the biggest mug ever.

But

it has, it has tulsi turmeric ginger tea. So I'm being good after, after all the coffee from this morning.

So that is actually great for kapha. You said tulsi turmeric ginger?

You have a good memory. Yes. Tulsi turmeric ginger.

Yes. Okay. So tulsi is amazing. For kapha. Ginger is amazing for kapha. Turmeric is tridoshic, so we love it.

Yes.

That is stimulating, heating, invigorating. So we love, we love, love, love. That is— that's awesome. Then the other things that I would say we want to bring in that lightness, the— we want to bring in The qualities of— so if we think about lightness, we think about plants that are light. What comes to mind?

Flowers.

Yes, flowers. What else?

Aerial. I mean, the aerial part of the plant is light, like the part that's above the ground versus the root and the tuber that's more the vata below the ground.

Yes. Yeah.

So flowers, leaves.

Yeah. And even stalks are above the ground too. Yeah, they are. They're a little bit more dense than the other— than like leaves and stuff. But yeah, all of the stuff above the ground. So when we think about plant parts, that's going to be really helpful. You know, roots are more for the nourishing, vata grounding. Kapha is more of the lightness, invigorating. So like leafy greens are going to be wonderful. Even things like celery are like, you know, they're a stalk. They're, they're above the ground as well. Beans, even like, or like green beans, peas, those kinds of things. Those are all in the air. They're hanging off the, off the plant. So That's like a really great rule of thumb is like, okay, which plants are like, which fruits and vegetables are like hanging in the air? Mm-hmm. That's gonna be really, really helpful. And like, are they light? Like you can just like put them in your hand and like, okay, this is light, this is not heavy, right? That's gonna— those are all gonna be really, really beneficial things for kapha. And then lethargy. Like when we have a lot of lethargy and heaviness, we might have been eating things that are more dense, heavy, and causing like water retention and inflammation and that kind of thing. So that's going to be, you know, fried foods, desserts, that kind of stuff, you know. Yeah. I don't really have to tell you. Again, not to say that you can never eat that stuff because we're not into deprivation here. And when we're thinking about— we want to come to this from a place of like, I want to feel good. So what do I want to do for myself to help me feel good rather than like shoulds and like Hadlee said, I need to do this. So the other thing that is going to be like thinking about like herbs and spices, Invigorating things are going to be like spices that are heating, right? When we heat things up, right? Like if you were to boil water on the stove, you see like the bubbles start getting more and more invigorated, right? So we can kind of think of that as that's how kapha is water and earth. So like you're putting it on the stove, you're heating it up, and you start to bubble your water. Just you start to bubble up and feel more of that invigoration. So heating spices are like, you know, chilies and cayenne and different things like that. Now, if you have a lot of pitta, you're not going to want to do those things. But if you have both kapha and pitta, you could bring in Cumin, coriander, fennel, all of those things are, are tridoshic. So those are going to be wonderful. Bringing in more spices. A lot of times people who have a lot of kapha in their constitution might be eating foods that are— they're just like putting salt and pepper on them. And so cooking with more spices is actually going to be really, really beneficial for kapha, pretty much Every single spice is kapha balancing. I'm trying to think of any that are not, and I can't in the moment think of any that are not.

Yeah, that's amazing. I was thinking about pepper too, like black pepper, which is easy to find. So if you're out and about or you go to a restaurant and you're looking for a seasoning, maybe black pepper if that's what you could find.

Yes, that'll give you a little bit of a kick. The other thing is like, yeah, you could, you could also have like before a meal, have some ginger tea. Don't drink too much because if you have a bunch of water in your stomach before you eat, that is going to make it so that you don't have as much fire to digest the food. And that can actually make you more waterlogged, especially if you have a lot of kapha. But just like sipping on a little bit of ginger tea or having like bitters That kind of thing is going to help get your digestive juices flowing, which kapha needs the most help with that because we just need a little bit of a kick in the pants to keep things moving.

I love that. And I love that it can be fun and delicious, just like adding spices, the spice of life. This is like the word of choice for kapha. It's like spice it up, invigorate it.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So instead of looking at it as like, I have to do all of this movement stuff now, or like, oh, I have to do— literally, it's like you're the one that gets to have the most— yeah, spicing things up, the most Creative. Like, how can you get as creative as possible with like how many spices you're putting together? And you might actually become the like fun, spontaneous person in your friend group when before maybe you were like just like routine doing the same thing all the time.

Yeah, you may, you may go from being the reliable friend to the reliable and spicy, spontaneous friend.

Yes, we love that.

This is so fun. And I really love this series because fatigue isn't just fatigue. It's different for everybody. And in this series, we got to look at the different ways that fatigue can show up and really get to the bottom of what might help you as a whole person go into balance so that you don't have the fatigue. And of course, this should be used in conjunction with just good medicine. Like, are you fatigued because your thyroid is slow? Or maybe you don't have enough iron in your body. And so, you know, we are giving you this great Ayurvedic wisdom, but make sure that you're doing your annual basic lab testing, talking to your doctor, and making sure that everything that you're taking is helpful for you and not a deterrent. You know, we did a, a podcast recently about histamine, and there are medications that can cause more histamine to be released in your body. And so all of this, and I know you know this, Because you've been with us for a long time listening to our conversations, but really make sure that you get to the bottom of it, the root cause. And we even talked in our course, Had, about endocrine anxiety or hormone anxiety with the doshas. And so if that sticks out to you and you're listening to this, you're like, oh my gosh, it could be me, is for sure check that out because that whole piece is such an important part of the puzzle of fatigue is make sure that your body is being nourished in the ways that it needs. So you don't have this obstacle to cure.

Totally. Yeah. Yeah. If you want to learn more about the doshas, how to optimize the doshas for more energy and just greater functioning of your body and your mind and your spirit and all of the things, we have a course for you. It's called Ayurveda: The Key to Your Success. So you can check that out. We'll put it in the show notes.

Thank you, Hadley, for always showing up from your, like, most brilliant, compassionate, wise, and fun self, and for bringing levity and spontaneity to our conversations. I'm so grateful for you. Oh,

I'm so grateful for you. Thank you so much. Thanks everyone for being here with us too. Really, really grateful for each and every one of you.

Yes, thank you. We'll see you soon.

Yes, see you soon. Bye.