Ayurveda is a Sanskrit term made up of two components – Ayus meaning life and Veda meaning knowledge. It is one of the oldest surviving whole-body medicine systems in the world.
In Ayurveda, health is Swasthya – Swa – natural and self-sustaining and Sthya – stable state. Ayurveda aims to restore your natural state in which the body, mind and soul are balanced as well as to find and boost your natural and unique capacity to heal yourself.
WHY AYURVEDA?
Ayurveda is one of the best preventive and self-care healing modalities. It is known to be equally effective in healing both acute and chronic health conditions. You can think of it as a simple path leading to a life that is both healthy and natural.
Ayurveda propounds that there is a delicate and crucial balance between an individual’s mind, body, and soul and that true health and longevity can be achieved by taking care of mental and emotional issues, along with the physical ones. This is a view which the Western methods of treatment are now beginning to share.
How does it work?
According to Ayurveda, health and disease have the same source. When the various entities – that our body and mind are comprised of – are in harmony, it translates into health. And when they are in disequilibrium, it results in illness. Ayurveda believes each individual to be unique and follows a methodology that accounts for our individual needs and different paces of healing. In this aspect, Ayurveda is truly one of a kind.
In Ayurveda, balance is achieved by restoring the equilibrium between the major components that comprise a human being. These include the five great elements, three doshas (energy forces), seven dhatus (body tissues), and agni. To determine your unique genetic makeup and the exact nature of the current imbalance, a non-invasive diagnostic methodology is used. These methods are known as:
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Three-fold examination
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Eight-fold examination
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Ten-fold examination
What can Ayurveda do for me?
Ayurveda focuses on healing the entire being, and therefore, is efficacious in healing specific mental and physical illnesses as well as for continued general well being and longevity. I am going to touch upon just a few ways in which Ayurveda paves the way to a healthy and fulfilling life:
Digestion
Gastric disorders are among the most common health conditions, but they are often ignored until quite severe. In Ayurveda, this is the first thing to be fixed. It is believed that impaired digestion is the root of most diseases. Appropriate food, herbal medicine and yoga are used to deal with digestive issues such as GERD, colitis, constipation, flatulence, diarrhea, IBS, abdominal pain, and bloating, to name a few.
Maintain or Lose Practical Weight
A healthy diet, stress reduction, yoga, and herbal medicine are some of the remedies prescribed in Ayurveda to help with weight reduction as well as weight management. The key focus of Ayurveda is to adopt a lifestyle that enables the body to stay healthy and fit and to stay at the optimum weight.
Skin conditions
Ayurveda is very helpful for various skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, acne, shingles, and rosacea. For specific conditions, special hand-crafted cream/oil is prescribed for local application. The positive effects of herbal therapy are enhanced by combining it with some of the Panchakarma therapies.
Boosts Recovery
Rather than healing through artificial means, Ayurveda seeks to help your body heal itself. Herbal therapy, rejuvenation therapy, and diet therapy are recommended for quicker and more lasting recovery from illnesses and surgeries. The overall approach of Ayurveda focuses on making your immune system stronger and to prevent it from falling easy prey to illnesses and conditions.
Diabetes
The implementation of an Ayurvedic lifestyle, along with the right food, and regular Yoga helps keep the blood sugar at a stable level. Herbal therapy also plays Herbal therapy plays a vital role in diabetes for maintaining healthy sugar levels.
Pain and Inflammation
Ayurveda can be used to help to reduce pain and inflammation with panchakarma therapy, herbal therapy and Yoga. Arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, neck pain, headache, and migraine are among the most common problems that Ayurveda effectively helps with.
Stress and Anxiety
Aspects of Ayurveda, such as yoga, meditation, and herbal therapy can be used to calm anxiety and lower stress. Simple techniques are used to train your mind and body to continue breathing normally, even when under stress. This one aspect of controlling breath enables you to stay calm and function normally in difficult situations, along with mitigating the harmful effects of stress on your health that tend to accumulate over time.
Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Ayurvedic herbal therapy, diet and relaxation techniques – along with Yoga – helps in reducing blood pressure and inflammation in the body that is normally caused by fatty and processed foods. This helps reduces the buildup of plaque in the arterial walls that eventually causes heart problems.
Respiratory conditions
Ayurveda has proven effective in a multitude of respiratory condition, which includes sinusitis, allergies, asthma, as well as COPD.