Pitta.
Fire + Water = Pitta
Pitta is one of the three doshas of Ayurveda. You can learn about the other two via these links: vata and kapha.
For review, Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga which means the "science of life". Yoga teaches us how to quiet the mind and connect to the infinite, while Ayurveda teaches us how to live in harmony with the universe and achieve optimal health and longevity. Traditionally, before students were given the practices of yoga, they were first expected to have a strong foundation in the habits of Ayurveda.
The five elements; ether, air, fire, water, and earth manifest in the body and the world around us as three basic principles known as doshas. They are kapha (earth & water), pitta (fire and water), and vata (air and ether). They are found in everything in nature in different proportions. Not one dosha is better than the other. Each of us has a unique combination of these elements that is known as your constitution. You can click on this link to determine your constitution. We can use this information to help us find balance between what we are made of, the quality of the season, climate, the food we eat, and the activities we participate in.
The qualities of pitta are hot, light, intense, penetrating, pungent, sharp, and acidic. Pitta's main function is transformation. In the body, pitta controls digestion, metabolism, energy production, and it is found in the small intestine, stomach, sweat glands, blood, fat, eyes, and skin.
People of pitta constitution tend to have a medium frame, strong digestion, robust energy, soft skin and have a warm body temperature. When there is too much pitta in the body, it shows up as heartburn, indigestion, skin rashes, diarrhea, inflammation, auto-immune problems, headaches, gout, adrenal fatigue, and other ailments. Psychologically, those with a pitta constitution tend to be intelligent, sharp, good speakers, and leaders. When unbalanced, they have a tendency towards impatience, hate, anger, and jealousy.
Pitta is dominant in summer and early fall. Think heat! In your movement practices you can balance pitta by doing more gentle, cooling, and restorative activities like swimming, walking, yoga, and self-massage. You can also use a cooling breath called sitali that will calm the nervous system and reduce inflammation in your body.
The energy of pitta rises, so it helps to ground the energy by walking barefoot on the earth, giving yourself time to rest, and keeping your schedule open so that you have space in your day for ease.