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Ayurveda: Definition

What is Ayurveda?

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.

According to Ayurveda, each person has a constitution created at conception that determines basic physiology and personality. This constitution is the inherent balance of three doshas, or subtle biological forces which govern the functions of the body, known as Vata (motion), Pitta (metabolism), and Kapha (cohesiveness). There are infinite combinations and permutations of these three basic energies, and each person's constitution is a unique expression. Constitution determines what a person is naturally attracted to and what is experienced as repulsive, what is in harmony with his or her nature, and what will cause imbalance and susceptibility to illness. Because no two people are alike and no two presentations of a disease are alike, Ayurveda does not approach the cure of a disease as much as it approaches the cure of the person who has the disease.

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.

Used with permission of the author. Click here to visit the California College of Ayurveda