Ayurveda Healing
March 16, 2009 by Ayurvedic
Filed under Ayurveda Basics
What Is Ayurveda?
For the past several years, there are a lot of Ayurvedic treatment centers, spas, and resorts that are being established all over the world. However, one should not consider this as mere fad or another health and wellness fashion. After all, the principles that govern every treatment and practice have deep-seated roots. It goes back to the ancient times in India.
Defining Ayurveda
The main point of Ayurveda is healing. For those who are sick, the different treatments will help them cure their illnesses. For the ones who have been healthy, Ayurveda will allow them to maintain their good health or even improve it through a much healthier lifestyle.
Ayurveda is different from yoga, which also came from India, in the sense that the former is not composed of exercises, but rather soothing and comforting massages enriched with herbs and oils. It is also widely different from other forms of alternative treatments because of its constitutional model. Every recommendation and treatment that is being given will be highly dependent on the individual. Moreover, the kind of treatment a person receives has been carefully assessed, observed, and compared with the ancient texts that guide those who practice Ayurveda. It is somewhat similar to acupuncture, since Ayurveda recognizes not just the body but also the mind as well as the environment.
Principles of Ayurveda
Ayurveda likens the body to nature, wherein there are five basic elements that compose them. We are talking about fire, air, space, earth, and water. This is also reason why the environment has great influence in our lives. Moreover, according to Ayurveda, these five elements in our body can combine themselves to allow us to perform certain functions. For example, you have Vata dosha, which is mainly associated with the circulation of blood, respiration, and the removal of toxins in the body. Pitta, on the other hand, refers to metabolism of the tissues, cells, and other body organs. However, if it combines with dosha, you will have pitta dosha; and it will then be referring to the conversion of food into bodily nutrients with the aid of the body’s metabolism.
You also have kapha, which refers to growth. If you’re thinking about bones and brain, then you’re actually talking about kapha. It can also combine with dosha, which will then form kapha dosha or protection. You have kapha dosha if you still have the spinal fluid in your brain. It will also refer to the uterine and stomach walls that prevent the main organs from getting damaged one way or the other. Any type of illness that a person suffers is because of the imbalance in any of these three main categories of the body, which is kapha, vata, and pitta.
You should also realize that Ayurvedic healing doesn’t focus only on the body but also of the mind and spirit. As mentioned, it’s wholistic healing—it’s life that it’s trying to heal and protect. And life, according to Ayurveda, is composed of the soul, mind, and body.



