Ayurveda, what is it?

What exactly is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is an Indian healthcare system that looks after mind, spirit and body; ensuring an all round well-being and spiritual harmony.

Ayurveda teaches that we are all born in a state of perfect harmony; that our life-styles, where we choose to live and our diets are what throw us out of synch; we need to find the places that are better suited to our natural constitution and temperament. Ayurveda focuses on healthy eating, meditating, exercising and taking natural remedies when we are sick.

Some people seem to tire easily while their friends seem to be full of energy, able to party all night and still function the next day. Ayurveda says that this is due to three differeing elements in all of us known as doshas – Vata (air), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (earth).

Everybody’s doshic mix is slightly different with two of the elements being dominant over the other; their quantities affect your body shape and skin type, they are also responsible for your emotional and intellectual temperament. You will feel well and happy when your doshas are balanced.

Doshas

Vata types are thin with dry skin, have an erratic memory, have difficulty sleeping and hate confronting things.

Pitta types have medium-sized bodies and smooth skin, very intelligent but often judge people and get angry.

Kapha types can easily become overweight, with oily skin and hair; they prefer things to stay as they are, are placid and slow-moving.

Most people are a combination of two doshas; an ayurvedic expert will ask you about your life and health, observing the way you look as they examine you. Everyone has 107 energy points, or marmas, around their body where life-force (prana) flows through. Much the same as Chinese acupuncture points.

The ayurvedic practitioner will locate the points on your body that are blocked and use different therapies to release the energy flow, such as steam therapy and massage.

Blockages at the marmas are said to cause health problems like skin complaints and digestive disorders.

Much like yoga, tai chi and other natural health systems, ayurvedic is a way of life rather than a quick fix for months or years of neglect; taking up ayurvedic beliefs means adopting a healthy diet and practicing clean living, at initial consultations a panchakarma (purification) course is often prescribed to expel toxins from your system and energize your elimination mechanisms.

This may all sound a bit Hippy New Age, but ayurveda has been used widely in India for 3000 years. Legend tells that 52 Indian wise men, called Rishis, left their home and travelled into the Himalayas and eventually realized that true enlightenment could only happen to spiritually and physically healthy people.

The Rishis decided that if people were to become truly happy they would have to be free from all illness first. They meditated on the problem of complete spiritual and physical health and received divine inspiration, these inspirations they wrote down in the Vedic texts.

Ayurveda may be an ancient wisdom but it is still relevant and useful today, perhaps even more so with modern toxins polluting our bodies; following its common sense approach to life and health, combining Indian wisdom with natural remedies and different exercises like yoga, meditation and massage, we may all be able to achieve true happiness and enlightenment.