What is Ayurveda?
The word Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that evolves from combination of two words, “Ayu” meaning life and “veda” meaning knowledge. Ayurveda, the Indian “Science of Life” or “wisdom of life” is an ancient holistic (whole body) system of healing that deals with nature and includes all aspects of life. It was developed more than 5000 years ago in India. It advocates a way of life in perfect harmony with nature and has evolved down the ages to be an extremely comprehensive and effective way of diagnosing and curing disease.
The central goal of ayurveda is simple- to establish perfect, radiant health physically, mentally and spiritually in every living being. It is based on that belief that health and wellness depends on a delicate balance between the mind, body and soul. If they are out of balance either partially or totally, we are likely to experience diseases. However, if they are in harmony we experience the sensation of deep tranquility, referred to as ‘Swastha’. It is considered to be a science of balance and longevity.
Sam Dosha Sam Agni Sam Dhatu Malakriyah
Prasanna atmaindriyamanah swasth itiabhidheyate- Su. Su 24/41
According to Sushruta the ‘Swastha’ (optimal health) is defined as when dosha, dhatu, agni and mala are in balance, When atma (soul), indriya (senses), manah (intellect) are happy and in harmony with internal peace.
Our body is trying to be perfectly healthy all the time through its innate self healing and self regulating abilities but, sometimes we repeatedly interfere with these natural abilities. According to ayurveda, every living and non-living being in nature is a combination of five basic eternal elements, called ‘Panchamahabhootas’. These are Space, air, fire, water and earth. Our body being an integral part of nature is also created from these elements. According to ayurveda, the five elements manifest in each of us in a unique way to give us our physical and mental qualities. The only difference between living and non living being is the expression of chaitanya, also known as consciousness, spirit or soul. These five basic elements combine in the human body to form three life forces or energies, called doshas. The three doshas are Vata dosha (space and air), Pitta dosha (fire and water) and Kapha dosha (water and earth). They control how your body works. Everyone inherits a unique mix of the three doshas and so have a different health.
Ayurveda can help us to restore balance to our whole being. Ayurveda emphasizes on disease prevention, rejuvenation of the body systems and longevity of life. It provides an integrated approach to prevent and treat illness through diet and lifestyle modification and natural therapies aimed at restoring balance to body, mind and soul.
Tridoshas
Every human has following three doshas but every human had different health because they have different amount of them or their combination.
VATA DOSHA:
It is the formed by combination of space and air element inside the body which is responsible for al kinds of voluntary and involuntary movements inside and outside the body like the intake of the food, inhalation and exhalation, movements of muscles, elimination of excreta etc. So, it is a kind of kinetic energy of the body.
PITTA DOSHA:
It is constituted by fire and water. It controls digestion, metabolism or thermo-genesis process.
KAPHA DOSHA:
It is a kind of potential energy inside the body, which provides stability to the system. It consistes of elements namely water and earth. Kapha is responsible for all the anabolic functions in the body and serves as the very basis of the immune system.
Disease comes due to the disharmony in these three basic elements of the body and ayurveda aims at the early detection of this imbalance and the correction of the same at the root level.
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