Introducing Ayurveda- Alternative Medicine for Self Healing
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Introducing Ayurveda- Alternative Medicine for Self Healing
Alternative Medicine: Health & Wellbeing: Ayurveda
In this website some members of the spiritual family have been properly introduced, such as meditation, zen, yoga, chakra, kundalini, pranayama, etc. and hopefully you are getting to know them well. Today we are going to introduce another important member of this most lovely family. Say hello to Mr. Ayurveda. Ayurveda literarily means the Science of Life and Longevity. It is the science of natural healing which dates back almost 5 thousand years and has been evolving and gathering wisdom since then. Thus, today it is one of the most profound and complete holistic healing systems on this planet.
In this introductory article I will give you a broad overview of Ayurveda and lay down the foundation for providing you future health, healing and wellbeing solutions from this great science.
Background of Ayurveda:
Ayurveda is a psychobiological system that looks to optimize health taking into account your body, mind and emotions. Ayurveda is based on the Vedic Samkhya Philosophy of which, for our purposes here, we will focus on just the 5 Great Elements and the 3 Doshas (humours or fundamental energies that form your constitution) that are derived from them. The 5 great elements are space (ether), air, fire, water and earth. The 3 doshas are vata, pitta and kapha. More on this in the following sections.
The 5 Great Elements & the 3 Doshas of Ayruveda:
The Ayurvedic framework within which all healing is conducted is based on the 3 doshas. Understanding the doshas and their interaction is the key to understanding Ayurveda. The 3 doshas are formed by the 5 elements as follows…
Vata: Space & Air
Pitta: Fire & Water
Kapha: Water & Earth
According to Ayurveda everything, including the body-mind complex, can be defined by these 3 humours. They exist in varying quantities in all things. The qualities of the 3 doshas are as follows:
Vata: Dry, Light, Cold, Rough, Subtle & Mobile
Pitta: Sharp, Hot, Light, Slightly Oily, Slightly Odorous, Mobile & Liquid
Kapha: Wet, Cold, Heavy, Dull, Soft, Sticky & Fixed
Health Goal of Ayurveda (Prakruti & Vikruti):
Ayurveda states that each of us is born with a particular combination of the 3 doshas. This is our natural state, our constitution or our blueprint. It is called Prakruti. Due to life acting upon us, this natural balance is altered and the altered current state of your doshas is called Vikruti. The objective of Ayurveda is help you regain your natural state or close the discrepancy between Vikruti and Prakruti.
It is important to remember here that Ayurveda is not trying to equalize the amount of Vata, Pitta and Kapha in your system. It is trying to re-establish the natural composition of these three doshas that you were born with. Here is how Ayurveda looks to do this.
Healing Principles & Techniques of Ayurveda:
Ayurveda is based on the following 2 principles:
1. Like Increases Like
2. Opposites Decrease Each Other
Ayurveda is the manipulation of the three humours, vata, pitta & kapha, based on the 2 principles above. Since everything is composed of these 3 humours everything is available to be used to influence the quantities of these 3 humours in the body-mind complex. Some of the more common treatment modalities are as follows…
Diet & Nutrition
Medicinal Herbs
Yoga & Exercises
Lifestyle
Meditation
Thought & Visualization
Massage Therapy
Aroma Therapy
Sound Healing
Color Therapy
Gem Therapy
Summary:
One of the most fun parts of Ayurveda is figuring out your constitutional makeup and seeing in what quantities Vata, Pitta & Kapha doshas exist in you. But, the best part of Ayurveda is that it is a science of SELF HEALING. Once you understand the basic concepts as outlined in this article, you are well on your way to helping yourself create optimum health and vitality. In future articles I will go deeper into Ayurveda and how to use this great knowledge to effectively heal yourself and set the stage for greater spiritual and personal growth.
Article Series - Ayurveda & Alternative Medicine for Health Series
- Introducing Ayurveda- Alternative Medicine for Self Healing
- 4 Self Healing Dangers and Tips
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April 2nd, 2011 at 1:58 am
Very interesting post. Almost cover all elements of Ayurveda. Ayurvedic medicine helps to maintain physical and mental health without side effects. Get more information about ayurvedic products
February 7th, 2011 at 11:26 am
You are amazing
November 20th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
cool…..
October 8th, 2010 at 4:39 am
nice blog very useful information
July 9th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Great post!
Recently I’ve gotten into Reiki and it has helped me and my meditation tremendously. I was told me to practice self healing on a daily basis.
I think using a combination of alternative health related methods this can help a lot of people with pain management.
July 1st, 2010 at 5:04 pm
[...] Introducing Ayurveda- Alternative Medicine for Self Healing [...]
March 26th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
[...] The science behind many of these natural breathing techniques actually extend from Ayurveda, which is the ancient Indian science of health and longevity. You can get more information regarding Ayurveda in the following article, Introducing Ayurveda – Alternative Medicine for Self Healing, and also Ayurvedic dietary principles and natural therapies can be excellent to help you fight high blood pressure further. [...]
March 8th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
[...] Introduction to Ayurveda [...]
February 5th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
[...] Always remember that the body has a blue print of perfect health and always tries to return to this state. You should always try to work with the body, in it’s efforts to return to perfect health. Yoga and Ayurveda (the Indian holistic science of life and longevity) are designed to do just this. On the other hand, when you use chemical, surgical or other such quick fixes, you tend to not work holistically with the body, and even as you are fixing one problem, you tend to create many more. So using Yoga for weight loss is the best way to intelligently and naturally lose the weight and help the body return to optimum health. [...]
January 19th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
[...] Always remember that the body has a blue print of perfect health and always tries to return to this state. You should always try to work with the body, in it’s efforts to return to perfect health. Yoga and Ayurveda (the Indian holistic science of life and longevity) are designed to do just this. On the other hand, when you use chemical, surgical or other such quick fixes, you tend to not work holistically with the body, and even as you are fixing one problem, you tend to create many more. So using Yoga for weight loss is the best way to intelligently and naturally lose the weight and help the body return to optimum health. [...]