The Core of Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda?

Directly translated Ayurveda means Â?The Science of LifeÂ?. It is one of the oldest forms of healing the world has known, with its origins dating back 5000 years to the Vedic sages in that part of the Asian subcontinent now known as India, and is one of the most profound health practices in the world. Ayurveda is a system of preventative health and healing and a philosophy for living. It cures not by treating the symptoms but by removing the causes of disease and by balancing the physical and spiritual elements of our lives. The objective is to achieve balance as an individual, as one whose emotional life, whose intake of food, whose output of energy and whose attention to the daily act of living is also extended to take in the wider concept of a harmonious universe.

Recent years have seen an increase in popularity for many holistic health disciplines and Ayurveda is no exception, with a steady increase in the number of practitioners, schools and opportunities for therapies, but something is being ignored in many of the variations of treatments and teachings now becoming available and a core premise is in danger of being lost. As fundamental today as it was 5000 years ago is the central concept of balance and harmony between all living things.

Within Ayurveda the earth and all life forms are seen to be an interrelated whole, a vast living organism. We share the same atomic and molecular structures and the same building blocks and what happens to one part affects the whole. Our world is a wonderful living entity; the atmosphere that we live in, the oxygen, the weather systems, the natural resources, the earth and the sea, the animal and plant life are all connected. Changes to the seasons, the natural and built environment and our immediate circumstances create cross currents of influence that affect all around us. Loss of this sense of connection has led to the malaise that is damaging the planet, our relationships and most human connections.

In the steady acceleration of our ways of living we have become disconnected from our sources and forgotten how to be aware, how to respond with intuition to our surroundings and how to take care of ourselves. We have become accustomed to taking pills and whole arsenals of chemical supplements, and we have buried the intuitive responses to health that were once central to a way of life. Searching for outside guidance has become the norm. We are loosing touch with the natural rhythms and cycles of nature and with the creative act of living in harmony with these elements.

The thinking mind has enabled mankind to create complex structures, systems and technologies, and also war, slaughter and destruction on a grand scale. On a smaller scale we damage and inhibit ourselves and our loved ones on a daily basis through patterns of thought and behaviour that corrode wellbeing. In our technological age we see increasing evidence of downsizing and restructuring in industry, rising stress levels on workers who take on the jobs of three people and less job security; the speed of todayÂ?s society seems to have increased whilst our transport systems have slowed down, national health waiting lists create anxiety in the sick - the list goes on and on. These stresses and distractions have disconnected us from the most important aspects of life.

Ayurveda teaches us how to regain critical knowledge and awareness of these natural forces and rhythms that compliment and strengthen our human experience, through delicious nutrition using natural herbs and spices, through enhanced levels of self awareness involving practical daily activities and through attention to our total environment to bring about radical changes in outlook and in health.

About the author:

Linda runs an Ayurveda Clinic in Cheshire with a spa area for body rejuvenation. This except article comes from her book Dosha for Life publihed by Findorn Press. Learn more on Dosha for Life website

Website: http://www.doshaforlife.com

Author: Linda Bretherton
Website:
Copyright © 2023 Linda Bretherton. All rights reserved

Back to articles' list