THE FIERY ENERGY

Samantha from Sex & The City
Monica from Friends
Madeline from Big Little Lies
Hermione Granger from Harry Potter 

Defs all Pittas.

See parallels with your personality? Let's deep dive:

The characteristics of Pitta

Body: toned, proportioned and easily builds muscle. You know that friend of yours with abs who never goes to the gym? Yep, Pitta.
Pittas get hot easily. Vatas love dating Pittas because they are like personal walking radiators.

Skin: Slightly on the oily side. If out of balance - sensitive and prone to redness and inflammation. 

Digestion: good digestion, their metabolism is often fast, and Pittas burn calories easily. People with a lot of Pitta tend to drink lots of water.

Personality: focused, determined, disciplined, competitive, can be controlling when out of balance. Anchored in the present and subject to frustration, anger and impatience. These characteristics go hand in hand as people who get angry tend to not think about the consequences of their actions - the fire of the present moment completely takes over. 

Work: natural leaders, they appreciate ambition, organisation and are always in action mode. Workaholics. Great entrepreneurs. 

Vikriti (imbalance): sensitive inflamed skin (acne, rosacea, eczema), inflammation in the stomach (indigestion, acidity, heart burn), anger issues, insatiable hunger, burnout.

Our advice

MOVEMENT

Pittas love competition which is fine in healthy doses, but if you overdo it, it can lead to anger and aggressiveness. You know that person who uncontrollably shouts and swears when they loose a point in tennis? So Pitta.

So when you feel your Pitta is getting out of balance, opt for sports that are detached from performance. Water sports like swimming and winter sports like skiing are well suited to cool your inner fire. Gentle movement practices such as yoga can also help tame the dragon. 
Pittas will naturally gravitate towards structured and strength styles like Ashtanga - but try balancing that out with Hatha or Yin. Hot Yoga is a no-no. 

Twist positions are highly recommended to "cleanse" the liver and release tension like Ardha Matsyendrasana.

FOOD

Hot & spicy are not your friends. You have to calm the fire to promote your digestion with refreshing or bitter foods and limit anything that can stoke the digestive fire such as foods that are acidic (dairy products, tomatoes or excess alcohol), spicy (raw onion, raw garlic, chilli, mustard) and overly salted (soy sauce, salted nuts, crisps) and deep fried. 

Bitter tasting foods are the magic remedy to calm Pitta - incidentally found in our sexy cacao, as well as certain Ayurvedic plants such as turmeric. Some cooling herbs that will help balance your strong digestion are coriander and mint. Ghee is great to cook with. 

So for example what would you eat for lunch? A casserole of chicken and vegetables (carrots, zucchini, spinach) with rice and a turmeric-coconut-coriander sauce. Bingo. 

Pittas need to drink a lot of water. In summer try cooling aloe vera juice or coconut water for an exotic touch. We're so sorry to say but coffee ain't great for Pittas. Try to at least reduce it to one cup per day. 

LIFESTYLE

while you can be very efficient at work, you can also easily enter into working 'tunnels' where you are so focused that you work for hours on end, sometimes well into the night. Your ambition can also put you on the path to work-alcoholism. Try to set clear boundaries with your work and home life and stick to them. 

Just like Vatas, Pittas respond to regularity in order to regain stability. Pittas tend to think they can survie and thrive on less sleep than other people. It's not so. Your optimal performance is still after 8 hours of sleep, and going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. 
You appreciate a cool environment, so for a peaceful night's sleep, air out your bedroom for 30 minutes before going to bed.

When you get home from work, put on soft and comfortable clothes, start a chill playlist, light a candle and turn off your phone notifications. If you are experiencing Pitta-related insomnia (waking up multiple times during the night) you can read our tips here.

Useful mantras before bed: "I am good enough", "I am worth more than just the work I do" and "I am calm and compassionate". Doing a little "OM" chanting in bed is also ideal. If your partner thinks you've gone cray and joined a cult, feel free to blame it on your Cosmic Dealer ;)