In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores the ten factors that Ayurveda considers when understanding health and imbalance.

Your Vikruti is your current condition, whether it is a condition of good health or a condition of less than ideal health. Whether you experience health or imbalance depends on how well you are interacting with these factors. These factors help determine the kind of imbalance that may develop.

The ten factors are Dushya, Desha, Bala, Kala, Anala, Prakriti, Vayah, Sattva, Saatmya, and Ahara.

Dushya means the things that are disturbed by the doshas. These include the tissues of the body and the waste products. As long as you are creating minimal waste products and eliminating them when they need to be eliminated, and as long as your tissues are properly nourished and balanced, your doshas will have difficulty establishing an imbalance. However, if one or more tissues or waste products are not functioning optimally, then there is greater possibility for disturbance.

Desha means climate and environment. How well you interact with and adapt to your surroundings is another important factor in determining health or imbalance. The environment in which you live and the way you respond to it have a direct effect on your condition.

Bala means strength. This refers to your individual strength and especially your strength in relation to any disease process or imbalance that may occur. The stronger the organism, the greater its ability to maintain balance.

Kala means time. All cycles of time are included here: the times of the day, the phases of the month, the seasons, the stages of life, and the different phases of a disease. Everything that changes according to time is connected with Kala.

Anala means fire, especially the digestive fires within the body. When these fires are properly kindled, digestion functions well. When they are disturbed, digestion becomes impaired, both at the larger level of processing food and at the deeper level of nourishing the tissues.

Prakriti means your constitution. The way your individual constitution interacts with the qualities of the substances and actions you encounter each day plays an important role in determining your health. Understanding your constitution helps you recognize what supports you and what may disturb you.

Vayah means age. Age is an important factor because certain conditions are more likely to occur at particular stages of life. The needs and vulnerabilities of the organism change as we move through different ages.

Sattva refers to presence of mind and mental strength. It exists on a continuum. At one extreme is a condition where a small problem is perceived as very large, such as excessive worry or hypochondria. At the other extreme is ignorance, where a serious problem is not recognized. Ideally, we perceive what is happening accurately and respond appropriately without overreacting, underreacting, or responding incorrectly.

Saatmya refers to the things we are habituated to. We need to examine the substances and actions that have become part of our lives, determine which ones are beneficial, and maintain them. We should also recognize which habits are not serving us and gradually remove them.

Ahara means everything we take in through our sense organs, especially food. Since Ayurveda recognizes that overuse, underuse, misuse, and abuse of the sense organs are important causes of disease, Ahara becomes a very significant factor in maintaining health.

By understanding these ten factors and how they interact with us, we can better understand our current condition and make choices that support balance, nourishment, and well-being.