What is Ayurveda?

Here are a few keywords that come up in Ayurveda over and over:
Using food as medicine. Preventative medicine. Five elements. Getting in tune with nature's rhythm. Body tissues. Bodily Channels. Digestion. Bodily systems. Cleansing. Relationships. Meditation. Tastes. Energy. Seasons.

The word Ayurveda, when unpacked from it's sanskrit form, technically means the science of life (Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge).

Ayurveda; it's a recipe for living in harmony with the laws of nature.

Now, before we move on I want to let you know that in order to explain Ayurveda to you i'm going to introduce four more sanskrit words in this post; dosha, vata, pitta, and kapha. Don't let them scare you off. Stick with me and you'll learn some amazing things about yourself.

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old system of natural healing that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. Apparently it was suppressed during the years of foreign occupation, but Ayurveda has been enjoying a major resurgence in both its native land and throughout the world. Tibetan medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine both have their roots in Ayurveda. Early Greek medicine also embraced many concepts originally described in the classical ayurvedic medical texts dating back thousands of years.

It's more than a system of treating illness. It's a collection of wisdom that teaches us how to take care of our bodies in such a way that we can walk through life in the healthiest, most vital way possible. The aim is to maintain the prevention of disease in a healthy person and to heal the disease of an unhealthy person.

Providing guidelines on ideal daily and seasonal routines, diet, behavior and the proper use of our senses, Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, and spirit.

For most of us, it's simply a way to learn how to get in sync with natures rhythms. We can learn to read the signs our body is sending us more clearly. We can get to know the foods that are best for our bodies and the season. We can learn some natural remedies for curing common ailments. This process begins by looking at our own unique blueprint. From the moment of conception, we each are created with a combination of the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, earth). This unique blueprint of the five elements, or dosha, is classified into three main group; vata, pitta and kapha.

Vata: ether and air
Pitta: fire and water
Kapha: water and earth

Although each of us has all three forces, most people have one or two elements that predominate. These primary forces are responsible for the characteristics of our mind and body. Each of us has a unique proportion of these three forces that shapes our nature.

If Vata is dominant in our system, we tend to be thin, light, enthusiastic, energetic, and changeable. If Pitta predominates in our nature, we tend to be intense, intelligent, and goal-oriented and we have a strong appetite for life. When Kapha prevails, we tend to be easy-going, methodical, and nurturing.

For each element, there is a balanced and imbalance expression. Though the unique blueprint we were born with remains the same, the forces of our environment that we are exposed to everyday change. Our age, amount of sleep, level of stress, level of exercise, the weather, the seasons, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and the quality and quantity of food we eat continuously affect us.

When Vata is balanced, a person is lively and creative, but when there is too much movement in the system, a person tends to experience anxiety, insomnia, dry skin, constipation, and difficulty focusing. When Pitta is functioning in a balanced manner, a person is warm, friendly, disciplined, a good leader, and a good speaker. When Pitta is out of balance, a person tends to be compulsive and irritable and may suffer from indigestion or an inflammatory condition. When Kapha is balanced, a person is sweet, supportive, and stable but when Kapha is out of balance, a person may experience sluggishness, weight gain, and sinus congestion.

A pivotal goal of Ayurveda is to identify a person’s ideal state of balance, determine where they are out of balance, and offer interventions using diet, herbs, aromatherapy, exercise, massage treatments, music, and meditation to reestablish balance. This is a life-long practice because our internal and external conditions are constantly shifting and we must continue adjusting to maintain a healthy equilibrium.

A simple questionnaire can help you determine which ayurvedic element is most lively in your nature. Answer the following questions as honestly as possible and see which element(s) receives the highest score. Here are a couple for you to try:

Dosha Quiz 1
Dosha Quiz 2
Dosha Quiz 3