Although Ayurveda has been around for centuries, its popularity has recently skyrocketed as more and more people seek to understand Ayurveda better. The system was developed by sages in India to treat and cure a wide range of health problems, and it is still very relevant today.
An Ancient Modality
With the advent of technology and globalization, the world has become a melting pot of cultures. As a result, West has recently discovered Ayurveda’s healing methods, and people are raving about them.
Due to its Vedic roots, many of the terms used in this system are Sanskrit. For this reason, it is sometimes a little tricky to understand Ayurveda and its terminology. But a good Ayurvedic practitioner can help you understand how this ancient healing modality can improve your health and life.
Ayurveda is becoming more well-known as people realize just how potent and effective it really is. This system of healthcare goes beyond conventional medicine. With Ayurveda, the goal is not just about achieving physical well-being, but also bringing about spiritual well-being.
Therefore, you’ll see yoga, massage, color therapy, crystals, and other methods used in Ayurveda. Emphasis is placed on the prevention of disease, and if that’s not possible, treatment is based on your body type.
Food As Medicine
Ayurveda looks at the big picture, and the theory is that everything is connected and interlinked. Your body, actions, thinking, health – it’s all related. To function optimally, there needs to be balance, and everything needs to work synergistically and in harmony with each other.
When using Ayurvedic methods, you’ll realize that most of the emphasis is placed on your diet. Nutrition is key, and you need to eat and drink according to your dosha. It’s very difficult to articulate what dosha is exactly, just like how it’s difficult to explain the Chinese concept of ‘chi’. Dosha is typically described as a person’s constitution, and knowing your dosha is important if you want to better understand Ayurveda.
What Are Doshas
Your dosha is unique to you and is influenced by your genes, lifestyle, time of birth, etc. There are a multitude of factors involved, and since they fluctuate, no two people have identical doshas.
Ayurveda breaks it down into three types of doshas:
- Vata – The qualities of Vata are dry, light, cool, rough, subtle, and mobile.
- Pitta – The qualities of Pitta are oily, sharp, hot, light, fleshy-smelling, spreading, and liquid.
- Kapha – The qualities of Kapha are cool, heavy, slow, smooth, soft, and static.
Of course, there is much more involved in determining your dosha than just this simple description. It is usually best to take a dosha quiz to help you determine your dosha. There are many good dosha tests online. You might want to try a few different ones to compare results.
In most people, one dosha type will be predominant, and that’s the one you’ll follow. However, you may also have smaller ‘doses’ of the other two doshas. So, you’ll need to be in tune with your body and watch how it behaves to know what’s good for you and what to avoid.
Ultimately, Ayurveda is all about spotting the warning signs in the body and acting accordingly to prevent diseases from taking root. Prevention is better than cure, and if you can see the signs, you can take appropriate remedial actions.
Understand Ayurveda: An Ancient Practice That Can Benefit You Today
It may be difficult for people in the West to understand Ayurveda. The whole idea of using herbs, oils, massage, aromatic oils, etc., to combat disease may seem foreign, and that’s because it is. This is an ancient art from India, but it works wonders if you try it.
For example, turmeric was used in India for thousands of years to prevent inflammation and promote good health. Only now, the West has realized how potent it is, and everybody and their neighbor is talking about curcumin. In fact, a pharmaceutical company in the US tried to patent turmeric but lost the case to India.
So, if pharmaceutical companies are trying to patent these ‘foreign’ methods of treatment, there must be a reason. Ayurveda works. Study it, apply it, and you’ll be awed by it.
As an Ayurvedic nutrition counselor at Life Essence Reiki, I help you determine your dosha so you can choose the foods that your body needs while avoiding foods that may aggravate symptoms. Together we can create a plan to help you heal your body.