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I have been interested in Ayurveda for more than 10
years now. When I first encountered its somewhat confusing Sanskrit
terminology, I was somewhat doubtful if I could follow its guidelines.
Slowly, as I understood, I began to enjoy and benefit from the Ayurvedic
theory of health.
But I realise there are still thousands of others like me out there, who
are either clueless or confused about Ayurveda. This article is an
attempt to demystify the fundamentals of this wonderfully practical and
completely natural healing system from India.
Q:What does “Ayurveda” mean?
A:Ayurveda combines the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (knowledge).
The name aptly describes the essence of this ancient Indian system of
medicine.
Q:Who founded Ayurveda?
A:The ancient healers of India, who had excellent observation skills.
They observed and recorded the relationship between themselves and their
environment -- and thus, in the millennia that followed a totally
natural and effective system of medicine was formulated.
Q:How does an Ayurvedic physician work?
A:An Ayurvedic physician is trained in the use of diet, cooking, yoga,
breath-work, meditation and a vast pharmacopoeia in order to help the
individual achieve balance. He is called a “vaidya” which in
Sanskrit means “one who knows”. The vaidya utilizes her/his
observation skills thus:
a) to determine an individual’s unique constitution pattern
b) to diagnose imbalances in that constitution
c) to recommend holistic ways to treat those imbalances
Q:What is the fundamental Ayurvedic theory of healing?
Ayurveda not only treats persons who are ill but brings to life the
concepts of preventive health care and health promotion. The goal of
Ayurveda is to help each person discover a personal knowledge of living
healthy and long.
Q:So how does Ayurveda define good health?
A:In Ayurvedic medicine, the keyword is balance, between body, mind and
spirit. Health, therefore, is defined as soundness of body (sharira),
mind (manas) and Self (atman). Each of these must be nurtured if the
individual is to create health.
Q:How is the Ayurvedic physician different from the Allopath?
A:The Allopath is trained to treat individual parts of the human body.
The vaidya, on the other hand, believes that the body and mind and
spirit are intimately linked--so when he treats a person for, say, liver
disorder, it is not just the liver he will focus on. It’s the whole
person, his diet and lifestyle patterns and even his state of mind.
Q:But the vaidya does not seem to speak common medical language. How do
I communicate with him?
A:Once you are familiar with the simple Ayurvedic approach to good
health, the vaidya’s vocabulary will make perfect sense. The Ayurvedic
physician or vaidya, views a person as a composite of 3 forces or doshas:
1. Vata: the force symbolized by AIR
2. Pitta: the force symbolized by FIRE
3. Kapha: the force symbolized by WATER
According to him, the quality and the relative balance of these doshas
determines health and disease. When these doshas act harmoniously, the
functions of digestion, absorption and elimination—both in body and in
mind-- create health.
What this basically means is that a disease will show up in different
people in different ways. An individual with a predominantly Vata
constitution will experience symptoms that are different than those for
Pitta or Kapha, even though they all have been diagnosed with the same
disease .
Q:Can my constitution be the same as that of my blood relations?
A:No! No two persons in the world have the same constitution, according
to Ayurveda. What makes you YOU is unique in itself. Think of the things
you ingest every day: foods, medicines, emotions, thoughts, climates,
colours, activities. Each of these is responsible for the way you feel
and behave. They tend to either balance or unbalance a you and to either
improve or aggravate various types of illness.
Q:But isn’t that a more tedious approach? If my asthma attacks are
different from another persons, then I need different medicines—are
there as many medicines in the world as there are people, then?
A:Absolutely. Not medicines in the limited sense of the word, though.
Because Ayurveda is a holistic system of healing, it does not believe in
a common pill for every ill. You need to have a comprehensive health
strategy: and it can start with something as simple as your daily
routine.
What’s more, your being an unique individual is a great advantage in
many ways, once you know your body type or “prakriti” thoroughly.
You will know just what kind of diseases you are prone to and why. You
will also know what kind of diet, sleep patterns and lifestyle will work
best for you. That’s the first step towards a preventive lifestyle.
Interested in learning more about Ayurveda? Visit www.mapi.com |
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