Ayurveda is a holistic health system that is becoming ever more popular, it’s a system that is incredibly layered and in depth so we’re putting together the basics for you to get a simpler understanding.
Ayurveda is an ancient sanskrit terms that translates to ‘the Science for Life’, it is the sister science of Yoga and is human kinds’ oldest health technology. Coming from the Vedas our most ancient script but having been passed on verbally for our 30,000 years most medical systems stem in some way from ancient Ayurvedic principles with both Traditional Chinese Medicine and plastic surgery stemming directly.
This science of life is a holistic and complete method for creating a healthful mind, body and lifestyle. Ayurveda is based in Vedic (Ancient Indian) wisdom which believed that the world was created by three main elements or natural forces. These are refered to as the Gunas they are :
Rajas - wind, forward momentum, creativity, also can manifest in human living as anxiety, rushing, stress and thoughtlessness.
Tamas - slowness, heaviness, nurturing, earthiness, inertia and stagnation.
Sattva - harmony, balance and peacefulness.
These translate to qualities or energies of living and our state of being.
Similarly Ayurveda prescribes that there are also three main types of people - these act as constitutions and are known as ‘bodily humors’ - Vata, Pitta and Kapha - commonly these are called the Doshas.
Most people predominantly have one or two of these present in their constitution, very rarely people have all three, those people are more easily balanced and are known as tri-doshic.
The Doshas have their own set of qualities, everything in the world can be related to a Dosha or a Guna, food, people, plants, even buildings.
Vata -
When balanced - bright, creative, slender, quick thinking, artistic, passionate, productive, self-starting, motivated.
Imbalance - anxious, worrisome, underweight, overthinking, creating but not completing, flighty and unreliable.
Pitta -
When balanced - great digestion, high achiever, motivating, quick moving, fast, healthy and fit, muscular, strong and athletic.
Imbalance - competitive, aggressive, over concerned with comparison, hot, fiery, rosacea and reddening skin complaints.
Kapha-
When balanced - nurturer, loyal, compassionate, warm, earthy, giving, big and beautiful features, luscious hair, voluptuous.
Imbalance - jealous, attachment issues, depressed, sluggish, inert, edema, overweight and a general sense of heaviness.
Many things in everyday living can tip us into being out of balance in one of the doshas, generally fast-paced, modern lifestyles cause a Vata imbalance. There are many simple Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle changes, treatments, massage and herbal medicines that bring the bodily humors into a more Sattvic and harmonic state.
If you feel you connect strongly with any of the imbalanced statescontinued reading or visiting an Ayurvedic practitioner is a wonderful place to begin your healing journey.
