08/06/2024
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda (a Sanskrit word that means "science of life" or "knowledge of life") is one of the world's oldest whole-body healing systems. It was developed more than 5,000 years ago in India.
Ayurveda is based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, spirit, and environment. The main goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to promote good health and prevent, not fight, disease. But treatments may be geared toward specific health problems.
The Veda’s, India’s body of traditional knowledge, cultivated over four thousand years, contains not only medical knowledge but also various subjects such as religious ritual and mantra, music and dance, and architecture. Mainly there are three principal Ayurveda texts, the Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, and Ashtanga Hridayam.
Ayurveda, as science of life, tells of what is good for a healthy living based on the nature (prakruthi) of each person. Prakrit literally means “beginning of creation”. Prakruthi refers to the natural constitution of a person. It is formed by the predominance of one or two or the balance of the ‘Doshas’, namely, Vata (that which moves), Pitta (that which transforms) and Kapha (that which brings cohesion). Each performs a specific function in the body, mind and emotions. Doshas literally means “that which is at fault”. Normally these energies maintain health in the human body, but they damage the body if there is an imbalance.
This remains constant and unchangeable in every human being. A person is healthy when the three Doshas are properly balanced. Their imbalance causes illness. Knowledge of prakruthi is of great importance not only in the treatment of diseases but also in planning a healthy regimen of food and lifestyle, suited to each individual. It is said that while an expert in modern medicine primarily wants to determine “what disease a person suffers from”, an Ayurvedic doctor wants to find out “what types of person” is suffering from the disease.
