Ayurveda

Aurveyda

Ayurveda, which literally translated means "the science or knowledge of life", is the traditional holistic
medical system of India. Although Ayurveda is practiced in India as a comprehensive health care system
with eight branches, including pediatrics and gynecology, it has only recently become known in the United
States. Ayurveda's premise that mind, body, and spirit are intimately connected is revolutionizing the way
Westerners understand their body and their health.

Ayurveda teaches that separating mind and spirit from the body creates physical imbalance, which is the
first step in the disease process. It naturally follows that re-integration is the first step toward healing.
Based on the principle that disease is the natural end result of living out of harmony with our
environment, Ayurveda views symptoms of disease as the body's normal way of communicating
disharmony. With this understanding of disease, Ayurveda's approach to healing becomes obvious: to
reestablish harmony between self and environment and create an optimal environment for health.

Ayurveda stresses the concept of balance in healing. One can learn to heal themselves or remain healthy
by staying in balance.
Ayurveda (pronounced I-your-vay-da), said to be a world medicine, is the most holistic or comprehensive
medical system available.

It is a Sanskrit word which means "The Science of Life." Ayurvedic knowledge originated in India more
than 5,000 years ago and is often called the "Mother of All Healing". It stems from the ancient Vedic
culture and was taught for many thousands of years in an oral tradition from accomplished masters to
their disciples.

Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and encourages maintaining health by paying close
attention to balance in one's life through right thinking, diet, lifestyle and herbs. Knowledge of Ayurveda
enables one to understand how to create balance of body, mind and consciousness according to one's own
individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain this balance.

Just as everyone has an individual face or thumb print, according to Ayurveda, each person has a
particular pattern of energy--an individual combination of physical, mental and emotional
characteristics--which is his or her constitution.

Ayurveda identifies three basic types of energy or functional principles that are present in everybody and
everything.

Many believe Ayurvedic medicine is most successful as treating chronic conditions, such as depression,
anxiety, pain, insomnia, skin or food allergies, and digestive irregularities that even Western doctors treat
with a combination of lifestyle changes and medicine.
This is not a conventional system; therefore Ayurvedic medicine borrows from herbology, psychology,
religion, nutrition, and faith to encourage our bodies to heal themselves using our inner strength.
Ayurvedic practitioners believe that selective treatments of specific symptoms can ignore underlying
problems and only provide temporary relief. Of course, Western doctors and scientists can create studies to
test some of the tenets of Ayurvedic medicine. While they have not proven that this method would be
better or equal at treating cancer or diabetes, for instance, they have found that some practices are helpful
when used in conjunction with pharmaceuticals.

To help individuals create an optimal environment for health, Ayurveda offers a group of treatments often
referred to as "five sense therapies." Through its detailed science of diet and herbalism, aroma therapy,
color therapy, sound therapy, and touch therapy (massage and marma therapy), Ayurveda recommends
how to use the senses to interact with the environment to create balance. These recommendations are
based on a person's constitution, current health imbalances, and the time of the year.

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