Ayurveda- The science of life!
Dr. Sachin S. Deshmukh
Dr. Manjusha S. Deshmukh
Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine and healing that has been practiced in India for over 5,000 years. Incorporated in the ancient Indian text, the Atharva Veda, the last of the Vedas, Ayurveda focuses on holistic wellness - the balance of the mind, body and spirit in rhythm and harmony with nature. Ayurveda or the 'Science of Life' is derived from the Sanskrit term 'Ayu' meaning life and 'Veda' meaning knowledge.
Ayurveda is based on two fundamental theories, the Panchamahabhuta and Tridosha theory. Ayurvedic philosophy believes that everything in the universe is made of the five elements. When the Pancha Mahabhuttas or five elements (space, air, fire, water, and earth) is balanced, the body is healthy and when they are imbalanced, there is disease. These elements manifest into life forces and make each of us unique, physically and mentally. The elements combine into three Doshas (life forces) - Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The combination of the three Doshas influences our mental, emotional and physical tendencies.
Ayurveda's primary focus is on avoidance of illness by proactively leading a healthy way of life. It seeks to balance and restore health through wholesome food, exercise, meditation, relaxation and cleansing. We believes that Ayurveda fulfils a deep yearning in the world, and nowhere more than the modern Western environment. In this busy commercial climate that is increasingly fragmented, modern man finds himself more under stress than ever before. Despite all the modem technologies and comforts life is ever more demanding and strenuous. We wants to bring an awareness towards the wholesome wellness of human being, the whole world needs to understand that complete wellness is a product of connections between Awareness, Environment and Health, subjects that the West consider detached and independent, but that are believed deeply connected in Ayurveda, whose interdependence defines “The Meaning of Life”. Ayurveda is fast becoming a transnational phenomenon. And this is the perfect time of Ayurveda's spread to the West, just as its ancient twin of Yoga has been doing for years. In India, Ayurveda and Yoga go hand in hand and offer a holistic and a traditionally cohesive approach to life, where every individual is considered to be a vital part of this intricately woven into the awe-inspiring universe around them.
This spiritual idea has always been deeply embedded in Indian culture and psychology, and that is the reason that Ayurveda has always been a mainstream alternative to modern medicine in India.With the growing affluence and prosperity of the urban India there has been a huge increase in the demand for ayurvedic spas and wellbeing retreats for domestic tourism and owing to the transnational phenomena of Ayurveda it has become equally popular globally.
Ayurveda is an ancient holistic health science originating in India some 5000, or more years ago. It advocates a way of life in perfect harmony with Mother Nature and has evolved down the ages to be an extremely comprehensive and effective way of diagnosing and curing disease – even challenging modern medicine (Allopathy) in many areas. Naturally, Ayurveda has become hugely popular all around the world and modern research has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the therapeutic effects of its treatments and herbal medicines.
The central goal of Ayurveda is simple to establish perfect, radiant health physically, mentally and spiritually in every living being. If body, mind and spirit are out of balance, either partially or totally, we are likely to feel unwell and experience diseases. However, if they are in harmony we experience the sensation of deep tranquillity, referred to as ‘Swastha’. Our body is trying to be perfectly healthy all the time through its innate self-healing and self-regulating abilities but, consciously or sub-consciously, we repeatedly interfere with these natural abilities. Ayurveda can help us to create the right internal and external conditions to restore balance to our whole being.
Ayurveda recognised unique constitutional differences of all individuals – even if two people have the same symptoms different treatment approaches are likely to help. Ayurveda emphasises disease prevention, rejuvenation of the body systems and longevity of life. It provides an integrated approach to preventing and treating illness through lifestyle modification and natural therapies aimed at restoring balance to body, mind and spirit.
According to Ayurveda, every living and non-living being in Nature is a combination of five basic eternal elements, called Panchamahabhootas. As the human body is an integral part of Nature it is also created from these elements in various compositions and, in essence, every cell of the body has all the properties of life. The only difference between the human body and the external world is the expression ofChaithanya, also known as consciousness, life spark, spirit or the soul.