What Is Ayurveda?

Hi,

This is a short introduction to Ayurveda.

And Ayurveda is the system of medicine and healing that comes from ancient India.

It's the oldest written system of medicine that we've got in the world today.

It dates all the way back to the Vedas and it evolved alongside yoga.

It's considered a sister science to yoga.

Ayurveda is a very holistic system of medicine which teaches us to live in harmony with nature and it's just as much about prevention and how to live a healthy long life as much as it is about curing illnesses.

So one of the most famous concepts in Ayurveda,

One of the things that most people have heard about and that is really at the center of the Ayurvedic view of the person is the idea of the three doshas.

And the doshas are these biological forces which govern our body and make the things and the processes in our body happen and these are what are treated when there's an illness or an imbalance.

So the three doshas are the Vata dosha,

Which is the air element,

Which is the force responsible for movement in our bodies.

The Pitta dosha,

Which is the fire element,

Which is responsible for our digestion and for any transformations in our bodies.

And the Kapha dosha,

Which is the water element and which is responsible for the physical form and structure of our bodies.

And then we all have what is called the personal constitution.

So this is our balance of which doshas we have more of and which we have less of.

And Ayurveda teaches us how to live in a way that is harmonious for our constitution,

How to eat the right foods,

Live the right lifestyle and do the things that we need to do to keep that dosha balanced.

And if we do become ill,

There are treatments which bring that dosha back into balance.

So it's all about staying balanced,

Understanding our bodies and doing the right things for our bodies and also about living in harmony with nature,

In harmony with the seasons and understanding ourselves in our lives and in this world.

So there are loads of different treatments in Ayurveda.

It's very holistic and really anything can be used as a treatment.

One of the main areas of focus is diet,

The types of food that are eaten and the importance of digestive health.

The lifestyle is also something that is always taken into consideration.

There are herbal remedies.

There are lots of body treatments using massage and oils and different herbal oils and herbal preparations for when there is an illness to help regain health and balance.

And then there are lots of different types of therapies and treatments.

There's aromatherapy,

Colour therapy,

Meditation,

Mantra and sound,

And Ayurveda really teaches us that each of us is unique and what's a medicine for one person is a poison for another.

So your journey with Ayurveda is all about finding what works for you and understanding your body and understanding what you need to do and how you need to live to be healthy and also what kind of things can cause you to go out of balance and then creating the right lifestyle and diet and bringing the things into your life that really help you to feel your best and That's right.

So this is just a short introduction but there's a lot of information about Ayurveda here on Insight Timer.

There are talks,

Courses,

Meditations.

So if this is something which interests you and you want to go a little deeper then check some of the tracks out and there's loads of information there.