Ayurveda -- an overview

Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing medical sciences. It has originated from India’s ancient Vedic culture and was popularized in an informal way from learned masters to their disciples. Interestingly, the natural healing systems of Homeopathy and Polarity Therapy owe their emergence to Ayurveda.

 
Ayurveda lays enormous stress on judicious lifestyle, state of mind and diet, lifestyle. It takes into consideration individual constitution and metabolism rate of personals and applies its principles on establishing equilibrium between all human faculties.

Every human constitution is ruled by several factors that prevail internally as well as externally. These factors play a crucial role and reflect the true image one’s emotional and physical strength. The imbalance in any of the human faculties, be it physical, mental or spiritual, can shake the foundations of the constitution that can further lead to sickness and illness.

Ayurveda trains these faculties in eradicating the imbalance by minimizing the negative effects. Balance and health are required to be established as the natural order while imbalance, in the form of ill health, must be thrown out as a disorder. Human body keeps on experiencing the tussle between such order and disorder.

Human body requires energy to perform all the body functions and maintain the cellular structure. Ayurveda recognizes the presence of energy in human body in the form of vata, pitta and kapha. It derives energy or its movement through Vata, the energy of digestion through pitta and the energy of lubrication through kapha. Ayurvedic principles attribute ill health and diseases to the imbalance of these energies. 

In contrast to Western Medical stream, the Ayurveda regulates the flow of energy within the body to make it strong enough to defend against diseases. It does not believe in usage of drugs and surgery to treat the body of diseased tissue. Ayurveda sustains the principle of balancing energy for a healthy human existence. However, Western medicine and Ayurveda should not be compared with each other. They are, in a way, complementary to each other for more effective treatment. Both the medical streams can be used in concurrence to make the patient stronger and healthy.

Popularity of Ayurveda has been on the rise these days. Although it originated in India, it is followed and practiced globally today. It heals mind, body and soul through holistic treatment comprising of natural herbs, ethical lifestyle and healthy foods. It prevents outbreak of illness and disease by maintaining a perfect balance among prevalent energies.

Ayurvedic techniques eliminate toxins from human body that may be prevalent in the form of unhealthy food, drugs, and state of mind. Ayurveda takes into consideration not only food but also emotions, situations and relationships in the treatment. Ayurveda contemplates on every facet of the patient before evolving a treatment that helps in energizing mind, body and soul through various practices.

Ayurveda has been successfully applied to many health faculties. Ayurvedic techniques and applications are based on naturopathy with herbs, plants, oils and minerals being the basis of treatment.

Ayurveda, used in contemporary context, follows ‘Rejuvenative’ and ‘Therapeutic’ approach. The rejuvenative approach pursues the holistic well-being of the person through removal of toxic impurities. The therapeutic approach refers to cure of specific ailments. The rejuvenative treatments make the skin healthy and strengthen tissues. They also immunize the body and hamper the ageing process.

Ayurveda maintains that the practice of Panchakarma eliminates toxic elements from the body. Following are the eight disciplines of Ayurvedic treatment known as Ashtanga:

1.    Surgery (Shalya-chikitsa)
2.    Treatment of diseases above the clavicle (Salakyam)
3.    Internal medicine (Kaaya-chikitsa)
4.    Demonic possession (Bhuta vidya or Psychiatry)
5.     Paediatrics (Kaumarabhrtyam)
6.    Toxicology (Agadatantram)
7.    Prevention and building immunity (rasayanam)
8.    Aphrodisiacs (Vajikaranam

Thus, Ayurveda addresses the body, mind, and consciousness of human in individual capacity for a healthy life.