Know about Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word derived from two roots, "Ayus" and "Ved," meaning life and knowledge respectively. Ayus, represents all aspects of life from birth until death. It's an ancient healing system of India and has been practiced more than 5000 years.

Aim of Ayurveda
The aim of Ayurveda is not only the healing of illness, but also the prevention of illness and preservation of life. Ayurveda is a "holistic" system of medicine, which means that it treats the person as a whole, not as a group of individual parts. Ayurveda aimed at treating the body, mind, and soul.

Ayurveda belief
Ayurvedic theory of creation discuss factors that are interlinked, including:

• The body
  
• The mind
  
• The soul or the consciousness
  
• The panchamahabhutas (the five elements)

These factors are complimentary to each other, and are equally important in every person. The basic Ayurvedic belief is that every thing is in the universe, including us, is composed of five elements called panchabhutas and tridosha or bio energetic forces that govern our health and determine our prakrati, or physical constitution.

Panchamahabhutas (five elements)
The universe consists of five elements - Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Human body composed of a combination of them.

Tridosha
The three principle bio-energies - Vata, Pitta, and Kapha known as Tridosha, exist in all matter and are composed of different combination of five elements.

Ether and Air elements in Vata Fire and water element in Pitta Water and Earth elements in Kapha

Doshas Characteristics

• Vata - Light, dry, cold, minute, mobile, rough, penetrating
• Pitta - Light, dry, cold, minute, mobile, rough, penetrating
• Kapha - Heavy, cold, soft, oily, sweet, static, slimy

Individual Constitution
Most individual have a predominant dosha, which determines body type. According to dosha, there are seven types of body constitution (Prakrti). These are -

Ayurveda approach
In Ayurveda, every person must be treated individually. The skill of Ayurveda practitioner lies in assessing each individual's constitution, diagnosing the cause of any imbalance, identifying the constitutional type and where the imbalance of dosha lie, and deciding upon the best possible treatment.

Diagnosis in Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, the diagnosis and treatments of disease is always individual. Indian medicine names, three main causes of disease that relate to whether we 'overuse, disuse, or misuse' of faculties; whether we make 'errors in judgement' and whether we are influenced by changes in the seasons. Ayurveda also closely traces the stages of disease and recommends a wide range of methods to assess people of all levels of health, based on their individual constitution and, prescribes remedies that are tailored for them. The Ananda Spa may refer clients to the nearby Himalayan Institute Hospital's Ayurvedic Department when clinical procedures are recommended.

Treatment in Ayurveda
The heart of Ayurveda is the many and varied forms of treatment for mind, body and spirit. Ayurveda is holistic in every sense: prevention is as important as cure, and we must be aware of the right time to undertake treatment-a time that is right for the individual. The techniques of Ayurveda are powerful, spanning the entire range of therapies.

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