Ayurveda: India’s Oldest Healing Method

By Jenny Chen

“The body must be credited with an immense fund of know-how,” said Deepak Chopra, one of the most famous contemporary Ayurvedic healers, and author of Perfect Health. Ayurveda is an ancient, 5,000 year old healing system originating from India, that extols intuitive and holistic health. Ayurveda has influenced many of the older traditional methods of healing including Tibetan, Chinese and Greek medicine, and thus has been called the mother of healing. The term “Ayurveda” means “life-knowledge” in Sanskrit.

“It’s the only healing modality that is absolutely holistic…it looks at the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of your body,” said Ileana Gonzalez of Apurva Ayurveda Wellness in Falls Church, Va. “[Ayurveda believes] everything is interconnected. That’s the underlying idea.”

The theory of Ayurvedic healing centers around the balance of bodily doshas. Doshas are the humors present in each body and there are three: vata, pitta, and kapha. Most people have one dosha that is more dominant than the others, and that determines their physical constitution, their personalities, and their mental states. Too much of any of these doshas lead to illness. Doshas are balanced primarily through diet and lifestyle as well as other practices such as massage and panchakarma. “Once you understand how to balance your doshas, everything else will fall into place,” Gonzalez said.

The vata dosha is the most important of all doshas because an imbalance of the vata dosha can lead to an imbalance of all the doshas. It is characterized by the air and wind elements. A balanced person of vata constitution is alert, sensitive, enthusiastic, spontaneous, and creative. However, an unbalanced vata suffers constipation, shakiness, cramps, gas, and fatigue. To ground and balance a vata, Ayurvedic practitioners recommend regular, moderate exercise, avoiding overworking, and eating foods that are primarily sweet, sour, and salty. All constitutions (vata, pitta, and kapha) should avoid junk food, alcohol, and caffeine.

The pitta dosha is a very commonly unbalanced dosha in the modern world. The pitta is often associated with fire and this fire is what keeps us going in our over worked, over stimulated lives. A balanced pitta is energetic, intelligent, and confident but an unbalanced pitta is angry, irritable, and extremely critical of his or herself and others. They may also experience heartburn, diarrhea, and excessive heat in the body. To balance a pitta, Ayurvedic practitioners recommend fresh air, cooling and calming exercise, and eating mainly sweet, bitter & astringent foods, with lots of fresh, raw foods & juices.

The kapha dosha is associated with earth and water. Those who have a kaphic constitution gain weight easily but are the most steady and calm of the bunch. Balanced kaphas are steady, reliable, solid and dependable, but unbalanced kaphas feel lethargic, dull, and sometimes depressed. Kaphas should incorporated regular aerobic exercise in their lifestyle and practice stimulating their minds. They should eat pungent, bitter & astringent, including warm light & dry foods with spices.

While practitioners have used Ayurveda to cure everything from cancer to diabetes, Gonzalez stresses that Ayurveda is not just for healing but as preventative medicine. “Ayurveda was designed as a lifestyle,” she said.

For more information about Ayurveda, visit:
Joyful Belly – a website with lots of basic information to get you started on your Ayurveda journey
www.joyfulbelly.com

Perfect Health
By Deepak Chopra
An excellent introduction to Ayurveda

Apurva Ayurveda Wellness – A Virginia based wellness center specializing in Ayurveda
www.apurvawellness.com