If you own a dog, you may be accustomed to referring to it as large,
medium or small. But in Petveda, body types are more complex than that.
Body typing is a unique concept in Ayurvedic medicine, based on the
five elements theory. Determining your pet’s body type allows you to
learn how to create balance in their mind, body and spirit, thereby a
lowing your pet to achieve and maintain optimal health. Moreover, when
your pets are functioning at optimal levels, they benefit not only
themselves, but also the world around them. Your pets affect the people
and places around them in a positive way. Indeed, your pets’ well-being
has a great effect on everything and everyone they come across.
In individuals and pets, the five elements manifest as the Petveda. Petveda means “protective,” or, when out of balance, “disease-producing.”
The Petveda are the three humors, or metabolic forces that make up the
mind and body. They are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
Vata = Ether + Air
Pitta = Fire + Water
Kapha = Water + Earth
At the time of fertilization, permutations of Vata, Pitta and Kapha
determine the constitution of any living being. These three metabolic
forces control all biological, psychological, and physiopathological
functions of the body, mind, and consciousness and have subtle
properties. These forces determine personality traits, and physiological
structure, with the influence of gender and other important factors
such as diet, lifestyle, behavior, emotions, seasons, and so on.
The unique individual constitution produces natural urges and
individual tastes in food, flavor and temperature. The doshas govern the
maintenance and destruction of bodily tissue and the elimination of
waste products. They are also responsible for psychological phenomena,
including emotions of fear, anger, and greed as well as the highest
order of emotions: understanding, compassion, and love.
