Balancing Vata in Fall and Winter with Ayurvedic Wisdom

As autumn descends upon Asheville, the landscape transforms with crisper, more arid air, brisk winds, and a natural pull toward comforting, hearty meals like steaming stews and hot beverages.

“Vata is based on air and space elements. When we put those two things together, they can feel cold, dry, rough, and overly mobile. It’s almost like we become one of the leaves that has fallen off the trees—dried out, ungrounded, just floating around at the mercy of the wind”-Kimber Jones, Moksha Health & Wellness

To counter this, Ayurveda’s principle is to balance with contrasts: if Vata brings dryness, coldness, roughness, and hyperactivity, we introduce heat, humidity, and stability, because like attracts like, and opposing qualities foster harmony.”

Regardless of your dominant dosha, embracing these foundational Ayurvedic strategies can guide you toward steadiness amid the seasonal flux.

How to Avoid Vata Imbalance this Season in Asheville

What follows is an interview that Travis Richardson, founder of Be Well Asheville, did with Kimber Jones, Moskha Yoga:

Travis Richardson:

As an Ayurvedic practitioner, how do you describe the role of Vata dosha in the fall season, and what are the key signs of Vata imbalance that people might experience during this transition?

Kimber Jones:

Vata is based on air and space elements.

When we put those two things together, they can feel cold, dry, rough, and overly mobile.

It’s almost like we become one of the leaves that has fallen off the trees—dried out, ungrounded, just floating around at the mercy of the wind.

How might that show up for you?

• DRYNESS: Dry skin, dry scalp, constipation, dry sinuses, feeling constantly dehydrated. Craving dry/crunchy/salty snacks.

• COLD: Cold hands and feet. Hard to warm up—you just always run cold. Cold/pain inside your ears.

• ROUGH: Inconsistent digestion, inconsistent/hard to stick to a daily routine. Meals aren’t at the same time each day, and bedtime/wake-up times aren’t at the same time. Gas and bloating (Want to learn more about these symptoms? Here is my complimentary workshop on gas and bloating)

• MOBILE (too much movement): Can’t settle down, feeling ungrounded, spacey, fearful, anxious, having trouble sleeping or waking up between 2-4 am, lacking follow-through? Grab my complimentary workshop on sleep here.

Vata isn’t inherently a bad thing—it’s the force of movement in the body, and we certainly need that! We just don’t want too much of a good thing—we don’t want our Vata bucket to overflow.

Travis Richardson: What daily routines (dinacharya) do you recommend for balancing Vata in the fall, such as specific self-care practices like abhyanga or pranayama, and how do these help ground the body’s energies?

Kimber Jones: In Ayurveda, we say balance with the opposite quality. So if Vata feels dry, cold, rough, and overly mobile, we simply balance with the opposite—warm, moist, and grounding.

How can you incorporate more of these qualities into your daily routine?

Pranayama: Alternate nostril breath (Nadi Shodana/Anuloma Viloma) is the KING of balancing Vata dosha. You can watch a video on alternate nostril breath here. Practice 7-17 rounds daily.

Alternatively, if constipation and anxiety are troubling you, your energy might be stuck moving up and out (remember air and space elements? They naturally don’t have anything to tether them down—there’s nothing grounding!), and you’d like to get some grounding energy going, practice this breathing visualization. You can do it while you’re in the car line waiting to pick up your kids, while you’re on hold with the insurance company, or anytime you have a spare few minutes in your day.

Abhyanga: Self-oil massage. (HANDOUT HERE)

This is another great way to balance Vata dosha. It checks all three boxes—warm, moist, AND grounding.

Before you get freaked out, this isn’t going to leave you oily and gross for the rest of the day.

It’s not like getting a professional massage; it’s maybe 2 tbsp of oil.

It’s seriously most of my clients’ FAVORITE self-care practice.

Believe me when I say this one is worth a try.

Here is a handout I often give my clients on this practice.

Routine: If you are in the middle of a Vata imbalance, routine can sound like a dirty word, I know! It totally feels like it prisons your creativity and spontaneity. BUT—we have to balance with the opposite!

Imagine this—your current Vata imbalance is a pendulum swung all the way to one side. We are going to swing the pendulum all the way to the OTHER side, so that eventually that pendulum evens out right in the middle. We have to introduce an intensity equal to your current imbalance in the other direction.

Can your meals be at about the same time every day? Can bedtime and wakeup be at the same time every day? You don’t have to be perfect; shoot for a B-, and you will still notice a huge difference.

Travis Richardson: In Ayurveda, fall is often seen as a Vata-aggravating time—how do dietary choices, like incorporating warm, oily foods, play into preventing imbalances, and what local (if any) foods do you suggest?

Kimber Jones: Diet is a HUGE part of balancing the doshas in Ayurveda. So once again—how do we get warm, moist, and grounding into our diets this time of year?

Here is a DIET PATTERN I often recommend for my clients

I don’t teach Ayurveda as a long list of “good foods” and “bad foods”, but find it more helpful to remember some big-picture concepts:

• ✅ Soups, stews, crockpot meals

• ✅ Warm, cooked, appropriately spiced meals

• ✅ Root veggies—beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc.

• ❌ Raw foods—salads, smoothies, juices, etc.

• ❌ Ice water—frozen or cold food and drinks

• ❌ Astringent or drying foods—the dry, crunchy, salty snacks especially!

I definitely recommend cooking some local apples in ghee with cinnamon and ginger! Or ordering some kitchari from Dobra Tea West or Pulp & Sprout Cafe.

Travis Richardson: Drawing from your experience, can you share a story where Ayurvedic methods helped balance Vata during the shift to cooler weather, perhaps addressing anxiety or dryness?

Kimber Jones: When you begin to really pay attention to how your body reacts to the season, and if you don’t have a big health problem or imbalance to address, you’ll begin to see that you can get through fall without all of the signs of Vata imbalance.

I had a client with a Vata/Kapha constitution who really leaned into cooking with her Instapot in the fall, lots of root veggies, and healthy fats. We found a meditation practice that worked for her, and she did it every morning.

She was a teacher, so her daily schedule was very consistent, which really helped her, and we leaned into that. She was sleeping soundly, addressing the stress of her job appropriately, and not getting sick all the time through fall and winter—all of which are huge wins!

Travis Richardson: How does Ayurveda view the progression from fall into winter, where Vata might give way to Kapha influences, and what preparatory steps do you advise for this deeper seasonal shift?

Kimber Jones: The basis of Ayurveda in regards to the seasons is this: We are a microcosm of the macrocosm. We are going to be a reflection of what’s happening outside of us. That’s why Ayurveda has SO much to say about the seasons—they really do affect us!

Winter can be a little tricky because it depends on the climate where you live. If you have more of a dry, cold, blustery winter without a lot of precipitation, it’s going to feel more Vata. Or if you have a winter with a ton of snow and precipitation, and less wind, it’s going to feel more Kapha.

Asheville, in general, has more of a Vata winter, but Kapha is definitely secondary. I think folks can get really hung up here, though—on how to balance two doshas at once, when they might have seemingly contradictory recommendations.

So if you are new to Ayurveda, just focus on Vata all the way until springtime hits and we are full-blown Kapha (that moment when oatmeal no longer sounds good for breakfast sometime in March/April). Focus on warm, moist, grounded habits, and it’s incredibly unlikely that it will aggravate Kapha too much.

Also, Vata is the easiest dosha to go out of balance, and the most common. But it’s also the fastest to get back on track, so that’s great news!

Travis Richardson: From an Ayurvedic perspective, what herbal remedies or formulations, like ashwagandha or triphala, are most effective for Vata balance in fall and winter, and why?

Kimber Jones: I’m very hesitant to give broad-scale herbal recommendations without talking to someone first and getting more history on them.

But, I can say, Ashwagandha is a great friend to the Vata dosha. Ayurveda says the taste of an herb holds a lot of its potency. So ideally, grab some in powdered form and take ½ teaspoon with warm water 3x/day.

Avoid if: pregnant or breastfeeding, fever/acute infection, you’re taking thyroid medication or Adderall/similar pharmaceuticals.

Travis Richardson: How do practices like yoga asana or meditation in Ayurveda support emotional stability during Vata-dominant seasons?

Kimber Jones: Yoga and Ayurveda are sister sciences—both originating from the Vedas of ancient India. Yoga asana can be a great tool for balancing Vata in the fall because it can move prana—or vital energy source—around in the body, which can help us feel more grounded and balanced.

Your practice this time of year should be slower, grounding, and more mindful movement. The room could be slightly warm (not hot) if you’d like. It’s not the time for a fast vinyasa flow.

Linger for 5 breaths in a pose, and really feel the connection to the earth through your feet. Prioritize poses that let your hips feel really grounded—Goddess Pose, Malasana (Yogi squat), low lunge, etc. Feel the energy moving down.

To experience yoga catered to the seasons, and incorporating Ayurveda, join me in practicing at Asheville Yoga Center on Thursdays at 8:30 am for a Mindful Flow Class!

For meditation, it can be incredibly challenging or downright impossible to get a Vata vitiated mind to calm, slow, and focus for most traditional mindfulness meditation practices. I would recommend some sort of guided visualization practice or Yoga Nidra instead. You can find plenty on the Insight Timer App!

Don’t beat yourself up for “not being able to meditate”! I’m a little counter-cultural with this—but I really don’t think you benefit from the “do more, have more discipline, try harder” approach to meditation.

Travis Richardson: In winter, Ayurveda stresses building ojas for resilience—what does this mean?

Kimber Jones:  Ojas is the manifestation of the body’s immune system. It gives us deep stores of energy, lustre, healthy/shiny hair, resiliency, and vitality.

Fall and winter can be depleting for ojas, which is why it’s more common to get sick this time of year! What to do instead?

Practice restorative yoga, really emphasize self-care and abhyanga, and don’t overextend yourself. Eat more ghee—use it for cooking just about everything—sweet to savory—it has a place.

Almonds and dates are other ojas superfoods. I love to make a warm golden milk sweetened with dates and blend some almonds into it, or use almond milk. Find ways to calm your mind—Yoga Nidra is really, really great for this, especially if you feel challenged by regular meditation (see above).

Travis Richardson: As a wellness expert in Asheville, what integrated insights from Ayurveda do you offer for a holistic fall-to-winter transition, especially for those new to these traditions?

Kimber Jones: From the Ayurvedic perspective, focus on deep nutrition in winter—lots of bone broths, stocks, and/or seaweed. Focus on deep rest—get more sleep (8-10 hrs), focus exercise on building muscle (grounding and building qualities). Stay warm with hot tubs or warm baths!

Want More Fall/Winter Resources?

• Try these Healthy Vegan Cafes in Asheville

• Try these great pumpkin-based wellness recipes (especially the Spiced Pumpkin Golden Milk Latte as it fits the Ayurvedic theme of this interview)

• Do these healthy events (November 2025)

Ready to Work With Kimber?

Want more Seasonal Ayurveda Wisdom? Recipes, yoga practices, self-care, and reflection prompts? Check out 2 weeks free of my monthly Rooted Rhythms Membership!

Curious about 1-on-1 work, sign up for a complimentary 30 min discovery call here!

This blog was originally published on the Be Well Asheville website at https://bewellasheville.com/balancing-vata-in-fall-and-winter-with-ayurvedic-wisdom/