Health is order and disease is the disorder! Do you agree?
So, if you want to be healthy and well, the first step is to pay attention – to what is happening inside your system. Wondering how?
Yes, you have to understand how your body works and how to live according to it.
In fact, when you understand the constitution of your body, it becomes easy for you to identify the signals of illness.
If that is the case, what makes someone healthy? Being healthy doesn’t mean the absence of disease or ailments. Health is the combination of all senses, physical, mental, and social – well-being.
So, along with preventing diseases, you need to pay attention to your physical, mental and social stability. Ayurvedic practice is the best way to achieve this.
Table of Contents
What Is Ayurveda & How Is It Self-healing?
Ayurveda is the science of life & longevity!
“Ayur” means ‘aliveness’ and “Veda” means ‘knowledge.’ It means Ayurveda is “the science of living.”
Treatment in Ayurveda is holistic; What does it mean?
Holistic means, treatment of your whole body. It includes mind and social factors, rather than just physical symptoms. Doesn’t it seem curious?
The holistic practice in Ayurveda is ancient. It all started about 5,000 – 6,000 years ago.At that time, Indian yogis were studying about new ways to live healthily. So, they researched natural elements scientifically.
After treating their bodies in natural ways, they observed and noted the performances every time. They could successfully bring back the juice of joy in their body in organic ways with plants, plant products, and their parts.
Not only this, meditation and exercise were a part of their practice – which in return – nurtured mindfulness and health.They did not stop there. Instead, tried several herbal compositions. Researched its effects on different seasons and its impact on various individuals.
After several years of research, they concluded – Ayurveda has high healing power. It miraculously cured diseases.
Not only that, but Ayurveda also boosted the whole lifestyle of a human being.
So, they concluded the experiments with a statement like this:
“When you fall ill by inviting diseases, you try to expel them out of the body. But, what Ayurveda does is – it enhances your immunity power while you are already healthy. Means, Ayurveda teaches us – prevention is better than cure.”
Moreover, the monks gathered their observations and efficacy of Ayurvedic formulations in the form of text.
Over the years, the Ayurvedic formulations remained effective!Do you know why?It is because the simple composition of our body has not been changed – it is the same throughout the generations.
Ayurveda works at the elementary level. Elementary level – the way we are formed and the way our body functions.To make data available for our future generations, they preserved their herbal formulations & pieces of advice for future generations.
According to the ancient texts, there are around three hundred thousand Ayurvedic formulations exists.This collection of knowledge was named as “the science or knowledge of life” — Ayurveda.
Ayurveda says, our physical and emotional balances has a particular relationship with our universe. It is, in fact, derived from the planet we live and syncs with nature surround us.
So…
In Ayurveda our foods, physical and mental natures and our body constitutions are classified by these principles:
- The 5 Elements
- The 3 Doshas
- The 6 Tastes
- The 3 Gunas
The 5 Basic Elements Of Nature and You!
We and our physical body are intrinsic to our surrounding nature and the universe.
What Ayurveda says is, our body is the sum total of the things that we have collected from our planet. And our body is a piece of this planet.
However, the things we accumulate from our planet differs from one person to another.According to Ayurveda, “FIVE great elements” or Pancha Bhutas are the base of all cosmic creation.
The five essential elements or Pancha Bhutas are:
Earth (Prithvi), water (Jal), fire (Agni), air (Vayu), and space (Akash/ether).
Also, being a part of this planet, these five essential elements make our physical body. So, it exhibits their nature. Each element has different characteristics, and thus they have different impacts on our life.
In fact, the eternal human health and well-being are connected with Pancha Bhutas at a cosmic level. So, how would you find the way towards a salubrious and active lifestyle? Any idea?
What if I say “ a body full-of-energy and vivacious vigor is everyone’s dream!”
Would you deny? Never, I think. But how can you achieve this?
So, to achieve this state, you have to understand a unique relationship. The relation between your actions and the response of planetary elements towards it. Ayurveda has simplified this relation through doshas and their functional roles.
The 3 Doshas That Constitutes Your Body
According to Ayurveda, there are three fundamental energies or three DOSHAS – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha,Doshas constitute our body. They are the unique combinations of those “five essential elements.”Vata, Pitta, and Kapha are present in every cell, tissue, and organ of your body.
Doshas are constituted like this:
- Air and Ether constitute Vata. It is the energy of motion or movement.
- Fire and Water form Pitta. It is the energy of digestion and transformation of food into energy.
- Water and earth make up Kapha. It is the energy of body structure and lubrication.
You will find one or two of the Doshas dominating in most of the people around you.
The three doshas are not different. In fact, they are all different sides of ENERGY having different characteristics.The relation between each Dosha constantly changes due to several factors.
If you try you can also feel their changes throughout a day, a season etc.For example, you feel cool and dry in a windy day. Why?
It is because the wind is nothing but the Vata energy and it influences the balance of Vata in your body.You can use the Dosha Analysis Application to know your body constituents.
There are some major influences that trigger an imbalance in one’s Doshas:
- The time of the day
- The ongoing season
- Their personal lifestyle
How Does Ayurveda work?
Ayurveda works based on the principles of the three doshas.Doshas in Ayurveda means – your unique physical and mental constitution. Those who are responsible for your well-being.
Every individual possesses their own combination of DOSHAS. However, usually, dominate one or two doshas. And, doshas are critical for different psychological and physio-biological body functions. So, knowing your dominant can help you balance them.
You can balance them throughout the seasonal changes, your growing aging etc. for longevity and tranquility.When they are in balance, they promote health.
…AND…
When imbalanced, they are the cause of ailments.In the next step, you will learn about the Ayurvedic diagnosis of diseases.
How Are Disorders Diagnosed in Ayurveda?
In Ayurveda, the basic principles for every cure rely on the three doshas.When all of the three doshas are well-balanced, we possess good health. The specific & unique combination of doshas is called as “prakruti.”
So, if any of them are out-of-balance, we experience an impairment of functions. Later on, it tends to develop a disease. This phenomenon is called “vikruti.”
The diagnosis decision making in Ayurveda is a complicated process.Do you think, it is like identifying the dosha responsible for the dysfunction and treating them promptly?
No. Not at all. Ayurveda has standard procedures for the diagnosis of ailments.Ayurvedic diagnosis depends upon the subjective and objective clinical examination of an individual.
The prime motive of Ayurvedic diagnosis is to find the cause of the disease and select the proper treatment procedure.Ayurvedic doctors find the imbalance of one or multiple doshas in you, and they will start the treatment to replace the natural balance.
You are likely to go through these:
1) Prakriti Pariksha: In this process, the constitution or birth type of the person is determined.
2) Vikriti Pariksha: It is the process where the imbalances and disorders of the person are determined.
Diagnosis is essentially made by following these three methods:
1) Observation (Darshana)
2) Touch/Palpation (sparshana)
3) Questioning /interrogation (prashna)
Again these are divided into several stages as you see below.In Ayurveda diagnosis of diseases is understanding the pathology of DOSHAS.
So, there is no “fit-for-all” medicine in Ayurveda. It varies according to the individual personality and dysfunctions.Thus, different from modern medication.
How Is Ayurveda Different From Modern Western Medicine?
The primary goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to enhance the strength, stability of body and well-balanced lives naturally – without the need for chemical pills and painful surgeries.
Ayurveda says every herb, shrub, and plant has some medicinal values. Even the plant parts like root, leaf and tree barks also possess some healing nature.
To put it in another way, Ayurveda strongly conveys this message:
Your health is not something that is externally obtained. Instead, it is something that has to grow within you. This is because, though the elements are derived from the universe their growth happens inside your body.
For example, if your luxury vehicle needs a repair job to be done, whom will you prefer to visit? A local mechanic or the official manufacturer?
I think, without a second thought, you would choose the manufacturer; not any local mechanic, right?This is the essence of Ayurveda – to find the principle of manufacturing of your body.
According to the principles of Ayurveda, every person is unique. And, so there is no eating habit or lifestyle routine that works same for everyone.
In Ayurveda, prevention of diseases is more focused. Instead of prescribing a list of pills, drugs, complicated surgeries.
The key to prevention is living a lifestyle with – the harmony of physical and emotional health and guidance on how to balance between
Ayurveda treats food and lifestyle as the best natural medicines.
Something exciting is:
If you come to an Ayurvedic doctor with a complain, you are more likely to leave with a recipe – than a prescription full of chemical soups and pills.
Then, you may doubt, “is Ayurveda effective?” “can it really cure my disorders?”Yes. It can. This is the secret soup of Ayurveda. It is because, Ayurvedic physicians treat you the way your body is built, not the kinds of drugs that may create side-effects.
Now, learn… about…
How Effective Is Ayurveda?
The treatment in Ayurveda is HOLISTIC.
A holistic system means – the treatment of a whole body – based on the mental and social factors. It includes these: the nature of the planet, your eating habit, how you breathe, what you breathe, what you drink – all sort of that.
Ayurveda is especially useful in treating chronic disorders. This is because Ayurveda focuses more on the reason behind the ailment.
Moreover, Ayurveda doesn’t diagnose the disorders entirely basing upon the physical symptoms.
In fact, Ayurveda is all about maintaining the fundamental equality.
It is unlike the chemical applications or any physical modifications of body parts. It’s natural. So, it doesn’t disturb the innate intelligence of our body.
You already know, individual body constitutions are unique.
So, can you imagine the efficacy of a “universally fit” procedure?
The prognosis may be right, but there are chances of side-effects.
In fact, this is what that makes Ayurveda distinct:
Ayurveda has almost ZERO side-effects because treatment in Ayurveda is person based. It is according to the Prakriti and Vikruti of an individual.
