Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda and how it is considered Alternative Medicine?

Ayurveda is a 3,000-year-old system of natural and holistic medicine that continues to support health and wellness around the world today. More than simply a form of herbal treatment or natural medicine, Ayurveda offers a complete approach to balancing the body, mind, and spirit for long-term well-being.

The word Ayurveda comes from Sanskrit:

Ayur = Life
Veda = Knowledge

Together, Ayurveda means “The Knowledge of Life” — the wisdom and understanding needed to live a healthy, balanced, and fulfilling life.

According to Ayurvedic medicine, true health is not merely the absence of disease or symptoms. Instead, health is achieved when the body, mind, spirit, digestion, emotions, and lifestyle are all in harmony. Ayurveda focuses on identifying and treating the root cause of imbalance rather than only addressing symptoms.

As one of the world’s oldest healing systems, Ayurveda is widely recognized today as a form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). In the Western world, many people turn to Ayurveda as a natural and holistic alternative medicine approach to support overall wellness, stress management, digestion, immunity, sleep, hormonal balance, detoxification, and preventive healthcare.

The Five Elements in Ayurveda

Ayurveda is based on the understanding that all creation is composed of five universal elements::

Ether (Space) — आकाश
Air — वायु
Fire — अग्नि
Water — जल
Earth — पृथ्वी 

Every living being and every substance in nature contains a unique combination of these five elements. These elements work together to create balance within the human body and throughout the universe.

Ayurveda is the knowledge of life that consists of the secret of balancing the imbalanced elements. A combination of two of each element makes a Dosha, for example: Vata dosha is composed of Ether and Air elements, Pitta dosha has Fire and Water elements, and Kapha dosha contains Earth and Water elements. Therefore, the balanced state of these elements is the foundation of a healthy individual. According to the Sushruta Samhita – one of the main Ayurvedic texts:

“Sama dosha sama agnischa sama dhatu mala kriyaaha

Prasanna atma  indriya manaha swastha iti abhidheeyate” – Sushruta Samhita

A balanced state of elements (Doshas), the digestive fire (अग्नि), tissues (Dhatus), waste products (Mala) along with a content spirit, satisfied senses, and satiated mind is known as wholesome health.

An Ayurveda practitioner successfully brings the above-required balances into each patient’s life in order to achieve complete wellness.

In the Western World, The Ayurveda is considered a form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).

Doshas

A unique theory in Ayurveda is the dosha theory. Five elements (Panchamahabhootas) combine to form 3 doshas that are responsible for human physiology. This conceptual tool is the means to detect the earliest stages of diseases by an Ayurvedic physician. In fact, an expert practitioner can detect an onset of a disease long before the symptoms start to appear. The three doshas are:

Vata

The principle governing al motion or movement. Made up of air (वायु) and Ether (आकाश), with the characteristics of dry, light, cold, quick, rough, minute, and mobile, Vata dosha controls all space and movement-related aspects.

Pitta

Controls all transforming processes. It is made up of Fire (अग्नि ), and Water (जल) Mahabhootas and characterized by qualities of fire – hot, sharp, penetrating, light, acidic, burning, and slightly oily.

Kapha

Responsible for cohesion, growth, and liquefaction. Water (जल) and Earth (पृथ्वी) elements provided structure and solidity to the body, therefore, Kapha dosha primarily reflects the qualities of water and traits of the earth – heavy, slow, cold, steady, solid, oily, and retainable.

Human life is only possible with the above three processes.

 

Explore the unlimited treatments Ayurveda offers. Each prescription is customized to tackle the individual body and its respective ailments. A variety of herbs are used depending on the dosha imbalance and the “Prakriti” of each client. Ancient techniques mentioned in the Vedas (The oldest manuscript available to man) are practiced closely following the original guidelines. Time-old and time tested procedures still hold validity even to modern-day problems. Diseases from a wide spectrum are treated uprooting the very cause of the problem and maintaining health thereafter.