The Dosha Clock: How Vata, Pitta, and Kapha Cycle Through the Day
In This Article
Read about the vata-pitta-kapha dosha clock and its daily cycle, based on traditional Ayurvedic practices.
to sunrise, vata creates movement and people awaken and tend to excrete A.M waste. Again in the late afternoon, from about 2 . until sunset, the influence of vata P.M makes one feel light and active. Early morning and evening are kapha times.
From sunrise until about 10 ., kapha A.M makes one feel fresh but a little heavy. Then again in the evening, from about 6 . until P.M around 10, kapha ushers in a period of cooling air, inertia, and declining energy. Midday and midnight are pitta times.
At midmorning, kapha slowly merges into pitta, and by noon one feels hungry and ready for lunch. Again from 10 . until around 2 ., P.M A.M pitta is at its peak, and food is digested. Thus there is a daily cycle of vata–pitta–kapha: 6 .–10 .
= kapha A.M A.M 10 .–2 . = pitta A.M P.M 2 .–6 . = vata P.M P.M 6 .–10 . = kapha P.M P.M 10 .–2 .
= pitta P.M A.M 2 .–6 . = vata A.M A.M So there is a doshic clock (when a particular dosha is operating at its peak) and a biological clock (when a particular organ is operating at its peak). Based on these clocks, the Ayurvedic sages developed the dinacharya, or daily routine. This daily routine is the art of bringing harmony between the biological and doshic clocks and chronological time.