Ohira Ayurveda, a beauty and skincare brand, acquaints us with an ancient Indian ritual — dosha analysis — which may be the answer to many of our modern problems.
FASHION & BEAUTY
FINDING MY DOSHA AND Myself.
Text by Ranjabati Das
Ohira Ayurveda, a beauty and skincare brand, acquaints us with an ancient Indian ritual — dosha analysis — which may be the answer to many of our modern problems.
When my colleagues and I signed up for a dosha analysis program by Ohira Ayurvedic, I had little idea of what I was getting into. And so naturally, Rajni Ohri, the owner of the organic and natural skin and beauty brand, had a lot of explaining to do. “According to Ayurveda, there are three doshas or mind-body types — Vata, pitta, and kapha — derived from the five elements (earth, fire, wind, water, space/void). All three doshas are found in each of us but in varying proportions, making up each individual’s temperament and traits.”
The process is hassle-free. Ohira shares a multiple-choice questionnaire; you fill it out and return it. They study it, determine your dosha, and prescribe products and lifestyle changes in accordance with it.
I found it much more comprehensive than I expected. It probes about body type, digestion, menstruation, sleep patterns, memory, stamina, and more. I answer in as detailed a way as I possibly can, even adding my own notes in the margin where I feel the options are unsuitable in my eagerness to engage with this ancient Ayurvedic ritual dating back centuries.
Ohri reveals that I am a mixture of data and Kapha (the former being my ‘primary dosha’). “You can display traits of any one or a combination of both. Data qualities are dry, rough, thin, slender, restless, lively, and creative. Bones are weak. They work quickly and get tired quickly. Kaphas have a large frame and are stable and lazy, with lush, hard, moist skin and bones. They are calm, grounded, and loyal,” she rattles off. But what a vata-Kapha skin usually means is dryness on cheeks, skin, hair, hands, and feet, with open pores and oily T-zone, she confirms, much to my dismay.
There is not much luck in the hair department either. “Although thick in youth, hair fall ca.esAlthoughsit is during later years. They are also dry and brittle,” Ohri says. The data’s emotional makeup can be prone to nervousness, overthinking, anxiety, and insecurity. Toxins result in backaches, which are poisonous when accumulated in the small intestine. These are called ama in Ayurveda, I am told. “Consuming ghee slowly removes these, enhances the ojas or life energy, and makes the body healthy. The kapha traits that may manifest are calmness, groundedness, and loyalty,” she finishes her evaluation.
Some of it may be easy to glean from my answers. But I’m impressed. So I slam her with my list of chief peeves — hair fall, an oily T-zone, brittle nails, a weak back, and a lack of energy and fitness.
Ayurveda attempts to fill the gaps in health, skincare, and beauty by maintaining the right balance between environment, body, spirit, and mind, much like yoga. And because a big part of it is about cultivating a balanced lifestyle—eating right, being mentally stable and at peace, and keeping one’s body flexible and fit—I’m urged to start right away, even before the Ohira products can find their way to me.
I will begin each day with a mix of exercises and yoga—tadasana, the cat pose, planks, and pranayama—to improve my posture and strengthen my back. This will be supplemented with 100-per-cent-natural calcium citrate tablets that come with vitamin D and an energy-boosting juice made of carrot, tomato, amla, beetroot, ginger, lemon, organic black sesame seed powder, and black salt.
Thrice a week, she advises me to follow it up with an early morning calcium- and iron-rich drink of sattu powder and jaggery. If I can’t palate the taste, I can add one spoon of sattu to my roti flour. She also advised me to use ghee instead of cooking oil. “This is to combat your body’s dryness and strengthen joints and bones. Ghee in Ayurveda is also known to remove toxins from the body and is readily absorbed. It is rich in Vitamin E and beta-carotene and nourishes the nervous system. It lubricates the tissues to cure aches and stiffness.
Since your muscles are stiff from sitting in one position for hours at work, consuming ghee will make you flexible and open up the body for the recommended yoga exercises.” The organic one I find online is unsustainable economically; when I express my temptation to omit this step from my routine, she gives me an alternative, “Okay, would you be game to try this instead: heat one teaspoon of ghee with turmeric powder and black pepper and swallow it as part of your morning routine.”
Ohri is full of bright ideas like these and radiates an earnestness that makes you want to follow her advice. She is happy to answer all your queries—no matter how many or how longwinded—and even point me towards organic brands and guided meditation videos I can trust, going the extra mile by providing links on Amazon and YouTube. For anyone who has never gone organic or tried yoga and for whom the ocean feels overwhelming, I can’t emphasize the value of this gesture enough.
Within the first week itself, I am definitely more at peace, even as I realise that it is a slow process, as all-natural remedies are. Although the process is challenging, especially in a time-starved city like Bombay, I am already looking forward to part deux of my routine—the beauty regime—although it will leave me even more pressed for time.
As expected, I got a promising package from Ohira in a few days comprising heavenly-smelling oils, butter, gels, and masques. The rose and the honey hydrating gel are to be applied to my T-zone before the sunscreen every morning to battle the oiliness that leads to acne. Saffron and geranium butter is a blend of kumkumadi herbs in pure cow’s ghee, kokum butter, and beeswax with the essential oil of geranium. An ancient formula used by queens to impart a healthy glow and hydrate skin.
“Your Vata dosha has made the skin dry but sensitive, so we must give you a blend to curb inflammation or sensitivity. It is 100 percent natural and nourishes, hydrates, and delays aging. Besides, the geranium essential oil is oil-balancing.” It’s one of their priciest and also most low-maintenance products. With lukewarm water, I’m told to apply it on my face and wipe it off in just five minutes.
Next, I unbox a vial of natural sesame oil, reportedly one of their best products. “We have sent it to you in a travel-friendly size so that you can keep it in your bag. You can apply it to your nails whenever you wash your hands while the nails are moist. This one is loaded with calcium and iron and will strengthen your nails that have been breaking, splitting from the middle, and peeling,” Ohri had said. It is exactly this kind of thoughtfulness that sets her apart. If it were to lie at home — where I spend the least amount of my waking hours — it would not be of much help at all because the trick is to use it frequently.
To prevent hair loss, I’m given two more no-fuss products: the Japa Pushpa hair oil to use before bath (“No massaging, simply apply on roots by parting the hair and then along the hair length”) and the Banyan Root Hair Tonic, which requires no rinsing.
It’s been a few months, and I can see a difference ind overall mood and well-being. Although I can’t tell with certainty about the impacts it will have on my body and mind in the long term, reclaiming my life and being productive with my time has certainly become my ikigai. This Japanese concept stresses finding the activity or preoccupation that gives you the impetus to get up from bed in the morning. On many levels, this routine is just what the charge of routine is ife: infuse it with a solid shot of stability and move towards a healthier and happier existence.
