Insomnia: Vata Or Pitta Imbalance? [The Path Of The Yoga Therapist]

Listen in as Brandt discusses how insomnia, like many conditions, might look like a vata imbalance, but there is often a pitta imbalance at the root of the issue.

Transcription

Brandt: I’ve seen a  lot of people with insomnia with pitta imbalance. So that’s very typical

Student: It seems kind of vata to me

Brandt: why? 

Student: Just because they’re very scattered and can’t settle 

Brandt: Ya but what I’ve found just in practice is that it’s a sort of controlling your energy issue. So often you’ll see this a lot in our course, but often Pitta always almost, Pitta imbalances, overactive pitta will imbalance vata. So it looks like a vata issue and all the vata pacifying practices help the person but the real solution is actually getting their pitta under control. 

Student: um Hmm

Brandt: So that’s not every person who has insomnia. But that’s often. And you just see that over and over again where basically you do tones of vata balancing practices and the person’s like 30% better and you’re like oh good but then it stops. And that’s because you have to address you know the sort of analogy that’s always used is like pitta’s fire right and it moves the air above it right 

Student: Right

Brandt: so we have that issue. So that’s what I’ve seen and that might be to be honest I suspect that’s kind of a Western problem. Because there’s a lot of pitta imbalance in the West just cause the way we live and overactivity. So that’s why I’ve seen it over and over again. But I’ve seen other things you know but I see why you’d say that’s like disorganization 

Student: Um Hmm

Brandt: Insomnia, but often that’s coming from something deeper. So it’s always interesting to me how you know how when you work that way we often do things that you wouldn’t suspect like you’re doing something like you’re sensitizing the person to themselves so there’s a big piece of work there where you’re getting the person to feel their own heat and to leave it in their belly 

Student: Hmm

Brandt: and that’s really hard for people. So it’s a big education for them. It basically forces them to get in touch with their energy and where it is right? While they’re doing things that we do that in asana, we do that in pranayama, you’ll see as you go forward but um and that solves a lot of problems. 

Student: Um Hmm

Brandt: It’s even one of my sort of favourite parts of yoga therapy *laughing* this like solving the Pitta problem.