What is Ayurveda?
Most people I meet don’t have a clue what Ayurveda is…
But I’d like to change that!
Ayurveda (pronounced ah-yer-vey-duh) is a word I use often in conversation and, living in the UK, is generally met with a blank face in response. But what I love about my job is that I’m always getting the opportunity to introduce something incredible and life changing to people for the very first time. So let’s begin with a relatively simple explanation of it, in case you’re also pulling a blank face right now.
You’ve heard of yoga, right? Yoga is a well known practice and idea in the western world, though the origins and culture behind it are often overlooked. The word ‘yoga’ actually comes from the ancient, sacred language of Sanskrit, originating from South Asia a long, long time ago. Though it’s primarily a written language now, Sanskrit had a huge influence on many of our modern spoken languages. Over 5000 years ago, the language of Sanskrit was used to write sacred texts known as the vedas. This is where the teachings and philosophy of yoga come from (yoga is old).
Well, Ayurveda has the same origins as yoga. That’s why it’s a shame that it’s relatively unknown in the west still. They are considered “sister sciences”, and work alongside each other in harmony. Ayurveda is from India, but it’s not based on any religion so people of all religions and cultures can benefit from an Ayurvedic lifestyle.
“Ayurveda translates to ‘the science of life’”
In sanskrit “ayu” means life, and “veda” means knowledge or science. Ayurveda therefore translates to ‘the science of life’. To summarise, it’s a holistic and complete healing system that is focused on giving you tools and practices to achieve optimal health. It connects you to your innate ability to understand your body and heal yourself, therefore giving you full control. Ayurveda sees every individual as completely unique and uses natural medicines such as foods, herbs, and a balanced lifestyle to treat any number of ailments. The principles and cycles of nature play a huge role in Ayurvedic medicine also, as we are so intrinsically connected to nature.
“There is no “one size fits all” approach in Ayurveda”
Unlike modern medicine, Ayurveda addresses your physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing as one. It also does not separate your symptoms from each other, as it makes us aware of how deeply every system in the body is linked. Ayurvedic practitioners will look at all of your symptoms as a big picture, alongside your health history, to understand the root causes. To a healthy person, the focus of Ayurveda is maintaining wellness and balance and learning how to prevent disease. Everyone has a unique composition that makes them who they are which means there is no “one size fits all” approach in Ayurveda.
The principal Ayurvedic concept that you should know about is the idea that everything in nature is made up of different ratios of the 5 elements: fire, water, earth, air, space. The elements combine in pairs to form different energies that each play a role in nature. These energies are knows as dosa (pronounced do-sha).
Fire + Water = pitta dosa
Responsible for all types of transformation in nature, such as your digestive fire!
Earth + Water = kapha dosa
Acts as the building blocks in nature, such as the muscles and bones in your body.
Air + Space = vata dosa
Responsible for movement in nature, like your breath and circulatory system.
Every person contains a unique composition of the dosas which governs who they are, what they look like, how they think, and how their body works and reacts with the world. Amazing, isn’t it?
“Symptoms of disease are caused by imbalances”
When we learn more about ourselves using Ayurvedic teachings, we can then introduce dietary and lifestyle adjustments that bring us back into balance. After all, symptoms of disease are caused by imbalances, a.k.a an increase or decrease of any dosa. Anything can throw you out of balance - a particularly cold winter, increased stress at work, a heavy night of drinking, moving to a different part of the world, or just an accumulation of little things.
You might be sceptical on how using a 5000 year old practice could be relevant to you today. Fortunately, Ayurveda is built on the principals of nature and the systems and cycles of our bodies, which haven’t changed at all in the past 5000 years. The true beauty of Ayurveda in today’s world is that it completely compliments modern medicine.
Ayurveda is a complex science, yet is wonderfully simple to integrate into your life. The role of an Ayurvedic practitioner is to teach you how to sustainably use these tools for everyday healing and balance. This practice is for anyone and everyone.
