Ayurveda
Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine originating from India. Literally translated from Sanskrit, “Ayurveda” means ‘the science of life’. It is one of the oldest healing sciences and has been practiced for more than 5000 years in India, and is still practiced today as the traditional system of medicine.
This timeless healing system provides a preventive and integrative approach to health. It is based on the principles that humans are microcosms of the five elements of the universe, and that they are indivisible from the universe. Ayurveda teaches that each person has its own constitution, which is a combination of three basic types of energy called doshas. Each constitution is unique and requires a different diet and lifestyle to stay balanced, thus healthy.
Health is achieved naturally by living in harmony with the environment. When Disease happens, it results from disharmony between the person and the environment. Ayurveda greatly emphasizes the importance of creating and maintaining the balance between body, mind, and consciousness within one’s constitution to achieve good health. When disease happens, each case is unique to the person and requires a unique treatment by adapting one’s lifestyle, and diet according to one’s own constitution.
To maintain or restore health a multitude of different Ayurvedic treatments can be done such as rejuvenation therapy, body purification therapy, specific diets, herbal treatments, medicated oils, ghee, and fumes treatments, purgation, massages, yoga practice, and pranayama to name a few.
Ayurveda is more than just a healing system, it is a discipline that can be studied to acquire the knowledge and philosophy of self-healing. Ayurveda can be practiced by anyone to achieve good health and longevity.