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What is Ayurveda?

Put simply, Ayurveda (a Sanskrit word meaning the 'science" or 'wisdom of life') is an ancient philosophy based on a deep understanding of eternal truths about the human body, mind and spirit. Unlike orthodox medicine, it is not based on the frequently changing of findings from specific research projects, but rather on permanent, wise, eternal principles of living.

Although it originated in the East several thousand years ago, Ayurveda could not be more appropriate for present-day Western society, where so many people suffer from stress-related conditions which conventional medicine has been unable to remedy. It is the oldest healing system known and also the most complete. Its logical, commonsense approach to health and living is combined with philosophy, psychology and spiritual guidance.

Ayurveda has an armory of physical treatments from medication to massage, yoga, cleansing and detoxification programmes, and remedies for such disorders as infertility, impotence, arthritis, hypertension, gastro-intestinal problems, chronic illness and infectious diseases. It offers natural, herbal remedies, which counteract imbalances in the body and can successfully treat most health problems encountered in the West today. Following the Ayurvedic lifestyle can reduce the risk of contracting the disease. It also offers counseling for a range of conditions, advocates meditation and has recommendations for harmonious living and good relationships.

The eight branches (specialties) of Ayurveda
There are eight branches or medical specialties, in Ayurveda.

At the heart of Ayurveda lies the fundamental truth that everything exists in relation to something else and not in isolation. Western thought has, by contrast, tended to consider subjects of study as distinct and unconnected with other things. When it comes to medical treatment, therefore, the overriding aim is to re-establish harmony between aspects of a person's life which should be, but is not, in the path of balance.

Ayurveda teaches that the body and mind are one entity with gross and subtle manifestations. Our thoughts have physical effects and that disorders of the body cause psychological effects. There are no isolated phenomena as something purely physical or totally psychological. The two are intertwined. All matter, organic and inorganic, exists according to a set of predetermined laws: there is little anarchy in nature. Animals live according to a set of rules, which promote their healthy survival, and they reproduce in the correct season. The lives of plants follow a pattern that ensures that leaves, flowers and fruits grow in a specific order and no other. Similarly if humans do not live their lives according to the right principles, and those lives are disordered and chaotic, instead of calmness and serenity, it will result in disease.

The Doshas

Ayurvedic Medicine is based on the concept of the three doshas, or Tridosha. There is no exact English equivalent of these Sanskrit words, but dosha is commonly taken to mean roughly 'force' or 'fault or something which can go out of balance easily'. So, the doshas are bodily energies (some times called bio-energies), which influence all living matter, and mental energies too. And, because the term also means 'fault, it is understood that any imbalance will lead to a disorder in the body or the mind.

Although the concept of the doshas is unique to Ayurveda, it is not unlike the traditional Western idea of three basic body types - ectomorph (lean and delicate), mesomorph (compact and muscular) and endomorph (stocky). Most of us are a combination of two (or all three) types, with one predominant. The three-dosha types are known as Vata (the lightest, portrayed by the colour blue), Pitta (the medium, portrayed by red) and Kapha (the heaviest, portrayed by yellow). Somebody with dominant Vata energy tends to be thin, restless and creative; the Pitta type mostly conforms to a happy medium; Kapha people tend to be heavy, slow and lethargic.

Ayurveda teaches that everything in the world is made up of a combination of the three doshas, and that the doshas themselves combine two of the five elements; Vata is Ether and Air; Pitta is Fire and Water; Kapha is Water and Earth. 
Click here to check to use our free dosha calculator

The Immune System

A recent addition to the canon of Western medicine is psychoneuroimmunity (or PNI). It studies the effects of stress on the immune system and reflects a fact which has always been known to Ayurveda - that anything that affects the mind also affects the body and that a compromised immune system is primarily the result of mental imbalance and negativism. Disease attacks when the Tridosha are disturbed. If this point has already been reached, only vaccination has any chance of holding the disease process at bay, and drugs which are prescribed to fight the disease risk damaging the system, even when they appear to have been successful. This may explain why many people with undisturbed Tridosha who live in infested environments do not contract diseases like malaria, hepatitis, yellow fever and typhoid.

To strengthen immunity, it is first necessary to improve the spirit. Someone who is depressed, lethargic and at low emotional ebb is vulnerable to attack by pathogens. Similarly unexpressed anger, unhappiness and other negative emotions leave the system open to invasion by illness and disease, as does exposure to a polluted atmosphere. Ayurveda does not believe in sleeping pills, tranquilizers or anti-depressant, which merely disguise the symptoms of a disorder and can leave the body even more debilitated and likely to succumb to infection. Instead, it recommends counseling, meditation, yoga, group therapy and herbal preparations.

When the doshas are seriously out of balance, two kinds of external disorder can take hold: krimi roga, which are worm infestations, and kshudra jeevi roga, which are parasitic, bacterial and fungal infections. Krimi roga disorders commonly afflict children and Ayurveda has special treatments to expel round worms, thread worms, etc.

Kshudra jeevi roga describes all other external complaints and includes infections such as chicken pox, mumps and measles. Unlike orthodox medicine, with its anti-biotic, Ayurveda does not have treatments to kill these organisms but there are highly effective remedies available, which restrict their growth and ultimately rid them from the body. These include treatments for malaria and hepatitis. It is accepted that they are part of life and we have to learn to live with them. They cannot be got rid of from the world. There are, however, treatments to alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with some of these conditions and strengthen the immune system by improving general health. World Health Organization has reported that in fifty years all the organisms, which are currently sensitive to the existing antibiotics, will be resistant. The wisdom is, it is impossible to have drugs to kill all the harmful organisms, and instead the strengthening of the immunity of the individual will be the answer.

Ayurveda does not believe in attempting to create a totally sterile environment where such organisms could not survive.

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