The undermentioned article is also the result of our experience with body types and characteristics of body types in the light of classical Ayurvedic literature.

Identify your body prakriti (constitution)

As per Ayurveda, there are seven types of prakriti in which human beings can be classified. In addition to the three Pure types of Prakriti viz. `vata’prakriti, `pitta’ prakriti and `kapha’ prakriti, there are four additional mixed types of prakriti in which characteristics of Kapha, Vata or Pitta in combination form are present. These four prakriti types are –

1. Kapha-Pitta prakriti
2. Pitta-Vata prakriti
3. Kapha-Vata prakriti
4. Kapha-Pitta-Vata (Sama-prakriti)

Once his basic characteristics are known and fundamental features of doshas are understood, prakriti of a person can be roughly identified with ease. Final judgement would, in any case, depend on a knowledge of the person’s habits, tastes, nature, likes & dislikes and susceptibilities to specific diseases. In order to enable the layman to identify his own prakriti it is considered expedient to provide here a questionnaire seeking specific responses to simple questions on a person’s physical and mental characteristics, habits, tastes, aversions and cravings. On the basis of responses to various questions a true judgement can be made of the prakriti. A knowledge of the prakriti is very essential for personal healthcare  i.e. in fixing the appropriate type of diet and lifestyle regimen for an individual and more importantly in prescribing specific treatment of the disease condition for the individual. The prakriti knowledge enables individualisation of healthcare for a person.

Question 1.

How is your body frame and structure?

1. Very tall and wiry or very short and stocky.
2. Medium frame but not evenly proportioned.
3. Medium frame and well proportioned.

Question 2.

How is your hair?

1. Thin and sparse
2. Thick and coarse, often very dense
3. Moderately thick and dense.

Question 3.

How is your body built?

1. Extremely thin or extremely fat and bulky.
2. Well built in places.
3. Well built all over, near ideal weight.

Question 4.

If you can recall your growth pattern as a child or adolescent, your growth has been

1. Very fast
2. Moderately fast
3. Slow

Question 5.

How are your eyes ?

1. dry, stony or dusty
2. yellowish, brownish or redish
3. large, moist, sparkling white.

Question 6.

How are your teeth?

1. Large, white with-greyish tinge
2. Small, White with brownish tinge.
3. Medium sized, glistening white

Question 7.

How are you nails?

1. Small, coarse greyish and brittle
2. Small, hard, yellowish
3. Medium sized, pinkish, soft

Question 8.

How is your voice?

1. High pitched
2. Low pitched
3. Medium pitched

Question 9.

How is your gait?

1. Fast
2. Medium paced
3. Slow

Question 10.

How is your skin?

1. Dry with cracks
2. Smooth, lustrous, oily
3. Soft and clear

Question 11.

How is your appetite?

1. Good
2. Voracious
3. Low-moderate

Question 12.

How is your thirst?

1. High
2. Very high
3. Low

Question 13

How much do you sleep in a day?

1. Upto 6 hrs
2. 6 to 8 hrs
3. 8 hrs. and more

Question 14.

How is your sleep?

1. Sometimes sound, sometimes disturbed
2. Moderately Sound
3. Very sound, generally

Question 15.

How are your joints?

1. Supple, flexible, protruberant
2. Moderately supple, not protruberant
3. Rigid and tough, well knit, compact and hidden.

Question 16.

How much is you capacity for physical and mental work?

1. Cannot stand long and arduous working hours; get tired easily
2. Working capacity moderately high
3. Can stand long and hard working schedule without getting tired.

Question 17.

How is your memory?

1. Can understand quickly but cannot retain for long
2. Sharp memory, fairly good retentivity
3. Understanding process slow but excellent retention over long periods of time

Question 18.

How is your physical strength and stamina?

1. Low
2. Medium
3. High

Question 19.

How is your sex-drive?

1. Low
2. Moderate
3. High

Question 20.

In which weather do you feel most comfortable?

1. Autumn and Spring
2. Winter
3. Summer

Question 21.

What kind of foods do you like most?

1. Baked & roasted foods
2. Fried and spicy foods
3. Sweatmeats

Question 22.

How is your decision making?

1. Take impulsive decision
2. Take quick decision based on logical reasoning
3. Take well considered decision after full thought and analysis; decision-making is slow

Question 23.

Can you stand hunger and thirst?

1. Only for a little while
2. Can tolerate for some time
3. Can stand hunger and thirst for a long period

Question 24.

How is your perspiration?

1. Perspire quite a bit
2. Perspire profusely
3. Perspire little

Question 25.

Do you suffer from colds and catarrh?

1. Sometimes
2. Very infrequently or rarely
3. Very often

Question 26.

Do you suffer from rashes, itching and similar skin ailments?

1. Sometimes
2. Very often
3. Rarely

Question 27.

How is your normal behaviour?

1. Talkative, argumentative and quarrelsome
2. Clever, diplomatic and sharp in speech
3. Quiet, pleasant mannered and gentle disposition

Question 28.

How is your temper?

1. Uneven, unpredictable, excitable
2. Short tempered
3. Mild tempered

Question 29.

How is your general grasp and understanding?

1. Grasp is very quick but understanding is superficial
2. Grasp is fairly quick and understanding good with a sound sense of logic.
3. Grasp is slow but understanding very deep, sound analytical ability

Question 30.

When chided or snubbed, how do you react?

1. Instantaneously, bluntly
2. Quickly but diplomatically
3. Slow in reacting, sometimes unable to rebuff; often retort in a pious manner.

Question 31.

How much is your body weight?

1. Much above or much below normal (+ – 30% to 50% range)
2. Not normal range (+ – 10% to 30% range)
3. Near about the normal, ideal weight (+ – 10% away from Normal which corresponds to  BMI of 21.5)

Question 32.

How is your tongue?

1. Thick set, with black tinge
2. Thin, reddish
3. Medium thickness, pinkish

Question 33.

How do situations of mental tension affect you?

1. Can give loss of sleep, even a nervous breakdown
2. Can stand such situations but not for long, sleep affected
3. Nervous tension usually does not affect sleep; can stand mental tension over prolonged periods without serious effects

Question 34.

How are your stools?

1. Hard, dark or black in colour; once a day
2. Brownishor yellowish, loose stools; once or twice daily
3. Yellowish, well formed, only once daily

Question 35.

How is your body temperature?

1. Less than normal, palm and feet are cold
2. More than normal; palm, feet and face are warm
3. Normal, palm and feet are slightly cold

Question 36.

How are your lips?

1. Cracked, not sharply, often with black tinge
2. Reddish, thin and soft
3. Pinkish, proportionate, shapely

Question 37.

How are your movements?

1. Unsteady, erratic
2. Quick, fast
3. Slow, steady

Question 38.

Following a sleep during the day, do you feel a bad taste in the mouth or mildly nauseatic?

1. No, never
2. Yes, sometimes, mildly
3. Yes, always.

Now after obtaining responses to the above questions in terms of either 1 or 2 or 3, change them to A, B and C corresponding to 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Among the answers in terms of A, B or C,  identify whether maximum answers are As or Bs or Cs. Accordingly make a judgement of the prakriti.

A Corresponds to vata prakriti

B Corresponds to pitta prakriti

C Corresponds to kapha prakriti

Example

Supposing 12 responses are As, 12 responses  are Bs and 14 responses are Cs, then the prakriti type in question is Vata-Pitta-Kapha. Consider another example. If 29 responses are As, and remaining Bs or Cs, it is clearly a case of Vata Prakriti.

Thus identification of Prakriti depends on maximum responses among A, B and C.