Introduction To Ayurveda: Pt 1: Qualities, Elements & Doshas

This is the first of a three-part series exploring the fundamental concepts of Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda developed in India 5-10,000 years ago and is the oldest written system of medicine and healing in the world. In this first part, we look at the basic principles that underly all Ayurvedic theory and treatments: the principle of opposite qualities, the five elements and the three doshas.

If you've enjoyed this topic and are ready to dive deeper, my course 'Ayurveda: Healing Through the Senses' expands on this information along with guided meditations and exercises to help you to connect the concepts with what you experience in your body and in your environment, so you may enjoy listening to that one too.

Image by Wonderful Bali at Pixabay

Transcript

Welcome to this three-part introduction to Ayurveda,

India's ancient system of healing and medicine.

This three-part series is an introduction to some of the most fundamental principles of Ayurveda,

To give you a good understanding of the theory and philosophy around this very interesting system of medicine and how and why the different treatments work.

Ayurveda is the oldest written system of medicine that we have in the world today.

The word Ayurveda comes from the Sanskrit words Ayus,

Which means life,

And Veda,

Which means knowledge.

So Ayurveda is usually translated to mean the knowledge of life,

Or the science of living.

Ayurveda evolved in India an estimated 5 to 10,

000 years ago,

And is sometimes referred to as the mother of medicine,

As its influence can be seen in many other systems of medicine that we have in the world today.

Parallels can be seen between Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine,

And with Greek medicine,

And it's thought that as people moved away from India into other places,

They brought the knowledge of Ayurveda with them,

Which then evolved in two different systems as it combined with the medicine that was already being practiced in those places.

Ayurveda evolved alongside the Vedic spiritual sciences,

And one of the most fundamental concepts in Ayurveda is the concept of Svasta,

Which is a Sanskrit word which translates to mean both perfect health,

And to be fully established within the self.

Ayurveda is ultimately guiding us to be firmly established within ourselves,

And to be fully in our wholeness and sovereignty,

In order to experience good health and wellness,

And is also guiding us towards an understanding of our spiritual nature.

Ayurveda teaches that illness and disease ultimately occur when we forget our true spiritual nature,

And that Ayurvedic medicine is here to provide us with ways to support our health and wellbeing as we progress on our spiritual journey to remember who we truly are.

But where Ayurveda undoubtedly recognises that our physical and spiritual health are deeply connected,

You don't need to follow a Vedic spiritual path to receive all of the benefits of Ayurveda.

It's a very practical system which is available for everyone,

No matter what your spiritual beliefs are.

But it is important to recognise the emphasis that the system places on spirituality,

And that having a connection to your spirituality,

However that manifests for you,

Is considered to be extremely important for your overall health and wellbeing.

Ayurveda doesn't just deal with the healing of illness and disease,

But also focuses on how to prevent illness from occurring through the correct diet and lifestyle.

And it's recognised that no two people are alike.

We all have different physical and mental tendencies,

And tendencies towards different illnesses.

And so Ayurveda recognises that different people need to take different approaches to their health,

And are best suited to different lifestyles,

And that they also need to take different medicines when they're sick.

And Ayurveda takes a holistic view of the individual,

Recognising that our bodies,

Minds,

Emotions and spirit are all connected,

And that we're not separate from the world we live in.

Ayurveda teaches that everything we experience and every impression that we take in through our mind and senses has an effect on us,

And that everything in the world has the potential to be a medicine or a poison,

Depending on how,

By whom and under what circumstances that substance is being used.

Ayurveda recognises that people are a part of nature,

And that the natural laws that govern the world are also present in our bodies.

So through understanding nature we can come to understand ourselves and our place in the natural world.

And one of the most important fundamental concepts at the core of Ayurvedic understanding is the principle of opposite qualities.

Ayurveda recognises that this universe consists of many combinations of opposite qualities,

And in Sanskrit the word for quality or attribute is guna.

Everything we can find in this universe has one or more qualities,

And every quality has an opposite.

Opposites are found everywhere.

We have up and down,

In and out,

Fast and slow,

Big and small,

Shallow and steep.

But there are ten pairs of opposite qualities that are specifically used in Ayurveda,

And all treatment comes back to these.

Even though as we continue with these sessions we'll talk about the elements and the doshas,

In the end everything comes back to these ten pairs of opposite qualities.

And one of the most important principles of healing is that something is cured by its opposite.

So if a condition has the quality of excessive heat,

It will be treated with the quality of coldness.

If a condition is very heavy,

It's treated with lightness,

And so on.

And the ten pairs of opposite qualities are hot and cold,

Wet and dry,

Heavy and light,

Smooth and rough,

Dense and flowing,

Static and mobile,

Soft and hard,

Gross and subtle,

Cloudy and clear,

And dull and sharp.

Next we're going to talk about the elements.

In Sanskrit,

The five great elements are called the Panchamahabhutas.

These are the building blocks of the universe,

Which everything is formed from.

And like everything,

The elements have qualities.

The elements give us the world that we live in,

And they also represent principles and ideas.

And combinations of the five elements are found everywhere,

In the world around us and also in our bodies.

And the first element is Akasha,

Which means ether or space.

Akasha brings us the principle of space,

And its main qualities are cold,

Dry,

Light,

Subtle,

Flowing,

Sharp and clear.

Being the principle of space,

Akasha gives us the space that everything happens within,

And the space that connects everything together.

Akasha is everywhere and is present in everything.

It's the most subtle of the elements and is often perceived as absence.

We know it's there because it's not anything else.

We perceive a space because there's nothing filling it.

In nature,

Akasha is found in all spaces,

In the spaces that anything is happening inside,

And in empty spaces,

Holes and cavities.

Akasha is found in the empty spaces inside atoms,

In outer space,

And in the unseen realms and dimensions.

And Akasha also gives us the spaces inside our bodies,

In the lungs,

The large intestine,

The uterus,

The nostrils,

The mouth,

And the tiny holes inside the bones.

Each of the elements is connected to one of our senses,

And Akasha is connected to the ears and to the sense of hearing.

And each element also has an organ of action,

Which for Akasha is the vocal cords and the action of speech and expression.

And in the subtle or energetic body,

Akasha is connected to Vishuddhi chakra at the throat.

The next element is Vayu,

Which means air.

Vayu brings us the principle of motion.

It's the element that causes things to move,

And its qualities are cold,

Dry,

Light,

Subtle,

Flowing,

Mobile,

Sharp,

Hard,

Rough,

And clear.

Vayu is the force behind all movement.

Whenever something moves,

Vayu is the invisible force that pushes it.

And Vayu also fills the spaces created by Akasha.

An empty space in nature,

A hole or a room,

Is filled with air.

Vayu is subtle,

We can't see it,

But we're able to perceive it through witnessing its actions.

We know it's there because we can see things moving.

And in nature,

Vayu brings us the wind,

The air we breathe,

And all movement.

And it brings us all movement in our bodies and in our minds.

This includes voluntary movement,

When we choose to move around,

To walk or to speak,

And involuntary movement such as the heartbeat and circulation,

Blinking and breathing.

And Vayu is also responsible for the movement of our thoughts.

Vayu fills the spaces in our bodies that Akasha created,

In the lungs,

The large intestine,

The nostrils and inside the bones.

And Vayu is connected to the sense of touch and the skin.

And its organ of action is the hands and the action of grasping and holding.

And in the subtle body,

It's connected to Anahata chakra at the heart.

The next element is Tejas,

Which means fire.

Tejas brings us the principle of transformation.

And its qualities are hot,

Dry,

Light,

Subtle,

Flowing,

Sharp,

Hard,

Rough and clear.

Tejas is the force behind all change and transformative processes.

And it brings us light,

Heat and energy.

We put fuel into a fire and it's transformed into those things,

Heat,

Light and energy.

And a waste material is left behind during the process of transformation.

In nature,

Tejas gives us fire,

The sun,

The stars and any transformative process.

And it's also responsible for transformation in the body.

And especially for our digestion and metabolism.

Tejas is closely connected to the whole of the upper digestive system.

Where the transformation of food into energy and heat occurs.

It's connected to the stomach,

The small intestine,

The liver,

Gallbladder,

Digestive enzymes and secretions and to the metabolism.

And Tejas is also responsible for the digestion and metabolism of thoughts and impressions.

Tejas is connected to the sense of sight and the eyes.

Its organ of action is the feet and the action of progression.

And it's connected to Manipura chakra at the navel.

Next we have the element Apas.

Apas means water.

Apas brings us the principle of fluidity and liquidity.

Its qualities are cold,

Wet,

Heavy,

Gross,

Static,

Dull,

Soft,

Smooth and cloudy.

Apas brings us cohesion,

Liquidity,

Nourishment and flow.

In nature it's found in water and in all liquids including oils.

And it brings us all of the liquids in our bodies.

The blood,

Saliva,

Sweat,

Tears,

Lymphatic fluid,

Urine and mucus.

Apas connects to the sense of taste and the tongue.

Its organ of action is the genitals and the action of emission.

And in the subtle body it's connected to Svadhisthana chakra at the sacrum.

Finally we have Prithvi,

The element of earth.

Prithvi brings us the principle of solidity and stability.

It's cold,

Dry,

Heavy,

Gross,

Dense,

Static,

Dull,

Hard,

Rough and cloudy.

Prithvi gives us physical structure and solidity.

And it also provides containment.

It's able to contain the other elements.

In nature Prithvi brings us physical matter.

The material aspects of the world,

The trees,

The rocks,

The plants,

All of the solid things that we can see and feel and which are able to maintain their solid form and structure.

And Prithvi gives the body its physical structure.

The bones,

The skull,

The body tissues,

The adipose tissues,

The hair,

The nails,

The solid parts of the body which we can see and which maintain their form.

Apas,

Tejas,

Vayu and Akasha are all contained within the physical structure of Prithvi in the body.

Prithvi is connected to the sense of smell and the nose.

Its organ of action is the anus and the action of elimination.

And it's connected to Muladhara chakra at the perineum.

So we have all of the five elements functioning together in our bodies and our minds.

We need them all to be here.

Ether creates the space for us to exist in and connects everything together.

Air allows for us to move.

Fire allows for transformation.

Water gives us our liquids and fluidity.

And Earth gives us stability and solidity.

And from the elements we get the doshas.

And if you already know a bit about Ayurveda,

You're likely to have heard something about the doshas.

These are the biological forces which govern our bodies and our minds.

They're made up of the elements and each dosha has a different function and purpose.

The Sanskrit word dosha translates to mean that which can go wrong.

And this is because when the doshas are functioning properly and harmoniously together,

They bring us good health.

But when a dosha is not functioning properly,

Symptoms of imbalance and eventually illness and disease can occur.

So we always want to be taking care of our doshas and preventing imbalances through creating the correct internal and external environments for ourselves to keep the doshas balanced.

And when problems or illnesses do occur,

The doshas are treated through the diet and through the lifestyle,

Sensory impressions and environment.

We'll start by looking at the vata dosha.

The vata dosha is made up of the ether and air elements,

Akasha and vayu.

And the word vata means that which moves things.

This is the force that's responsible for movement in our bodies.

Vata is the invisible force behind all of our movements,

Behind our voluntary movements,

Our involuntary movements and the movements of our thoughts.

It's the most subtle of the doshas because it's made from the most subtle of the elements.

We can't see vata,

But we know it's there because we perceive it making us move.

And vata is especially connected to the parts of the body most connected with the air and ether elements.

Each dosha has its home in a part of the digestive system and for vata this is in the large intestine.

Vata is also connected to the hips and the pelvic cavity,

The nervous system which nerve impulses constantly move through,

The bones which contain small porous holes,

The brain and to the skin which connects to the air element and the sense of touch and to the ears which connect to the ether element and the sense of hearing.

Vata also causes our minds and thoughts to move and vata's qualities are cold,

Light,

Subtle,

Rough,

Dry,

Mobile,

Sharp,

Hard and clear.

Then we have the pitta dosha.

Pitta is made up of tejas and apas,

The fire and water elements and the word pitta means that which transforms things.

Pitta is the force responsible for our digestion and for all processes of transformation.

It's closely connected to the digestive system and governs our digestion and metabolism.

Because it's made from the fire element,

Pitta brings heat to our bodies and is responsible for the regulation of the body temperature.

Its home is in the small intestine where the absorption of nutrients and the majority of the transformation and processing of food occurs and it's also connected to many of the other digestive organs,

The liver,

Gallbladder,

Spleen and stomach.

Pitta is also connected to the blood and the skin and to the eyes and the sense of sight and in the mind pitta is responsible for the mental digestion of impressions and ideas and for transforming the impressions that we take into our minds into something understandable.

Pitta governs the intellect and pitta's qualities are hot,

Light,

Subtle,

Slightly wet or oily,

Sharp,

Mobile and flowing.

And the kapha dosha is made up of apas and prithvi,

The earth and water elements.

The word kapha means that which holds things together.

Kapha is the force responsible for the physical structure of the body,

For the fluids in the body and for the gross physical aspects that we can see.

Kapha is the most gross and obvious of the doshas and is the easiest to perceive.

We can clearly see its presence in our body tissues and fluids and the physical structure which kapha provides contains the other doshas.

Kapha's home is in the stomach where we first connect with our food and where mucus,

A substance closely connected to kapha,

Is produced.

And kapha is also closely connected to the lungs where mucus is stored,

To the lymphatic system,

The skull,

The fat tissue and the liquid secretions from the body,

The saliva,

Tears and sweat.

Kapha is connected to the tongue and the sense of taste and to the nose and the sense of smell.

And kapha is also connected to our emotional capacity to experience love and compassion and its qualities are cold,

Heavy,

Gross,

Wet,

Dull,

Stable,

Dense,

Cloudy and smooth.

We all have all three of the doshas and we need them all to live and function in the world.

Vata allows us to move,

Pitta allows us to transform and kapha gives us our physical structure.

But we all have our own unique combination of doshas which makes us the individuals that we are.

In the same way that no two people are exactly alike,

No two people's combinations of doshas are exactly alike.

The natural combination of doshas which makes each of us the individuals that we are is called our prakriti.

And the Sanskrit word prakriti means nature.

And in session two we're going to explore the prakriti and look at how the different doshas manifest in different people.

So thank you for joining me for part one and I look forward to meeting you again soon.

Reviews

I have much respect for this knowledge and it's practitioners after listening to this talk. Looking forward to part 2.