I can’t seem to get off of my “change is the only thing there is bandwagon.” It’s evident not only in my own life, but in the lives of my friends, in my dancing and in my city. The other day was a really “on” day at work. I was on my leg in class, my pirouettes were dead on, my jumps were light and I enjoyed a sense of ease I haven’t felt in a while. Rehearsal was much the same. Today however, just a day later, I felt like a different person with a different mind and body. Not to say that my dancing was poor—I am my own harshest critic— but I clearly felt different in my own body than the day before. What a difference a day makes. CHANGE. Sometimes when things aren’t going so well in life I fear that I’ll be stuck in my current predicament forever, but alas change does come. Even when things are going very well, I’m still plagued by the fear that change imminently looms somewhere in the background and inevitably, like a Greek Tragedy, I await my own downfall. Living in Los Angeles amplifies the volatility I experience in daily life. New careers, new cars, new homes, new spaces, trying to become this or that, trying to get here or there (good luck with traffic!) are the staples of a metropolis like Los Angeles.

Creation, life, energy are all manifested through elements of nature including space, air, fire, water and earth. According to ayurveda, the “sister science” of yoga, the natural elements give rise to the three doshas. Dosha translates to “that which changes” with its root word being “dus” which is equivilient to the English root “dys” as in dysfunction, dystopia, etc… Thus, some see the doshas as mistakes or faults or even a “transgression against the cosmic rhythm.” Doshas are constantly fluctuating in an attempt to strike a harmonious balance, one with the others. Doshas make life happen…they make the world go round. Ayurveda is the “art of being” according to Mela Gaskins Butcher, the Director for the Center of Ayurveda in Los Angeles. It’s a system that gives you tools to self-correct your doshic imbalance. How we are is a much more telling and powerful communicator than anything we say or do. We are very much a culture of doing not being. Doshas are our mental, physical and emotional constitution, which predisposes us to certain behaviors, diseases and personality traits. Space and air elements give rise to vata; fire and water give rise to pitta; water and earth give rise to kapha. Everyone has a little bit of each of the three doshas within their constitutions, but one dosha usually dominates causing an imbalance. Another way to examine the doshas is to think of them as elements that obscure our True Nature.

My focus for this post is the vata dosha. Specific traits pertaining to vata include light, cool, moving, drying, unpredictability and volatility. Vata means "wind, to move, flow, direct the processes of, or command.  Using the doshas to examine where we are is as relevant as examining how we are. Someone possessing vata as their dominant dosha appears anxious, nervous, agitated, unable to follow-through on tasks, indecisive and coined an “airhead”…hence the Sandskrit word vata means “wind, to move or to flow.” Let’s turn the discussion to the city of Los Angeles where everything and everyone is in a consistent state of flux concerned with getting here or there to act out his or her life role…I mean this in the most literal sense. The film and entertainment industry dominate this town; one day you’re in there like swimwear with the bigshots and one day you are out. Los Angeles spews out trends in fashion, culture and even language with phrases like “as if” and “metrosexual” faster than the Octomom can pop those little kiddies out of her vajayjay. What does all this mean for people, including myself who live under this vata dominant city? It means that in order to stay afloat in this town it’s necessary for you to speed up your lifestyle to the max so that you too can accomplish your goals and succeed. At last, a glimmer of accomplishment washes through you.  You’ve kept your head above water for an extended period of time, good job Susy! Then, in true vata fashion, the energy in Los Angeles becomes restless despite your personal satisfaction with the current state of things. She becomes riddled with dissatisfaction suddenly slapping you across the face with the worst case of 405 traffic you’ve ever experienced. Shit! Now you’re late to your next appointment with life. Traffic is always an acceptable excuse for tardiness in this town. Damn that Bitch! Without the other two doshas in play here (let’s keep those cans of worms sealed for now) it’s nearly impossible to strike any sort of balance in your life because you feel deflated, fatigued and drained from simply trying to keep up with the LA lifestyle. Whether the other doshas come in the form of friends and family you surround yourself with, activities in which you participate or places you enjoiy visiting, they are absolutely essential when navigating through the airy city of, I want-this-now-thatness…known to some as LA LA Land.