08/31/2026
Constipation isnât always about what youâre eating. Sometimes, we need to look at the qualities of how youâre living. đż
In Ayurveda, dry, hard, difficult-to-pass or irregular stools are often associated with Vata qualities: dryness, coldness, movement and tension.
One traditional practice Iâve shared with clients experiencing this particular pattern is having a small amount of ghee in the evening, before bed.
Ghee is considered nourishing and unctuous in Ayurveda, so in a dry Vata-type pattern, that added unctuousness may help counter the quality of dryness and support easier elimination.
But food is only one layer.
â¨Sometimes constipation can also invite us to become curious about how weâre holding ourselves.
Are you constantly holding it together?
Holding tension in your body?
Finding it difficult to slow down or let go?
Our psyche and nervous system influence our physiology. And when your nervous system is continually operating in a state of tension or heightened alertness, your digestion and elimination can be affected too.
And Iâm not talking about intellectual safetyâknowing that youâre safe.
Iâm talking about how safe your body actually feels.
Can your body soften?
Can you slow down?
Can you release?
This doesnât mean constipation is âall in your head.â It means the body and psyche arenât separate systems.
So Ayurveda asks us to look at the whole picture:
What are you eating?
How are you living?
What qualities are present?
And what might your body be holding onto?
đż If youâre repeatedly struggling with digestive or elimination patterns and want to understand the why behind them, this is exactly the kind of deeper exploration we can do together in a 90-minute Ayurvedic consultation.
Note: The ghee practice isnât appropriate for everyone.